Devorit's Descent
by Silvershark
Summary: A Prequel to Slayers TRY and The Chaos Within. The Golden Dragons of Vrabazard have been cursed for the mass genocide of the Ancient Dragons, but only one dragon, a healer named Devorit knows that they have been. He has done what he can to save the females, but he is only one dragon against thousands. And his mind is slowly slipping into insanity. Devorit/Evanth Filia/Ev friendship


Disclaimer: I do not own Slayers. I likely never will, but that doesn't mean I don't hold out hope. I will, however, use the wonderful world that is Slayers to further develop my plans for a Totalitarian Regime in which I am Supreme Overlord of Your Plan—Oops, what I meant was, I will use the Slayers world to develop offshoots of characters of my own make and design. Enjoy!

AN: This plot bunny comes from my story, The Chaos Within. Devorit is such an effing bastard that I had to write more of him out. This is his story. Well… His and Evanth's at least, though Filia and the Supreme Elder do play an important part as well because it's Vrabazard's sect of Golden Dragons. Be warned, this is not as upbeat a fic as TCW. It deals with very dark and mature themes. Not safe for work or for young eyes. Turn back… Turn back before it's too late.

Evanth had always known she was different. Not different in a good way, or a cute way, or even a weird way.

No, she was different in a bad way.

A way that made her an outcast. A way that made the rest of the dragons of her race more likely to talk about her, but less likely to talk to her, and much less likely to become friends with her. A way that made Evanth feel despised and hated by everyone around her.

Ever since Evanth had been a tiny hatchling, she had been told she was different by anyone and everyone who had thought to inform her of the state of her life—as if she didn't know—so that she _would_ know that _yes_, she was in fact _different_.

Well, the truth was that many of those very same people thought to expound upon their beliefs when she informed them that she knew she was different. They would instead tell her that she was worthless and undeserving of life, and it would have been better for all if she had just not hatched like the rest of her clutch. Aside from the fact that the only baby dragon to survive out of the four eggs her mama had laid was just a useless _female_, Evanth had been determined to be of very miniscule magical talent—which made her even more useless for future purposes.

For what point was there to having a female dragon who could not even cast magic?

The Golden Dragons of Vrabazard's sect were a _Priestly_ order, and as such, females needed to be able to cast magic. The need in males to cast magic wasn't as great because males could always become warriors—and since the Great War and the many deaths that came from it, there was definitely a need for more male warriors. Females could not become warriors, especially since they were _obviously_ the weaker sex—besides they were needed in more _feminine_ positions. If Evanth had been born a male, her lack in magic might have been overlooked. But she had not, and she could not even cast a lowly mage light for the life of her.

It was obvious to all of the Golden Dragons under the Fire Dragon King that Evanth really was just a waste of space and food, and even the air she breathed.

A lot of the males that spent time around her mother had often told her that she was also a waste of energy and effort. That the time her mama spent on taking care of her could be put to better use.

Like serving them.

Though Evanth's mother was considered even more pathetic than she—because her first clutch was and would be the only one she would ever lay again, technically her mother was currently more useful because she was still able to serve all those males, and Evanth was not.

When Evanth eventually came of age for breeding, she—like her mother before her—would be allowed to lay a clutch of her very own. If any survived, it was possible that Evanth would be allowed to continue laying eggs, as that would be all that she would be good for. But she would at least finally have a purpose in life and would no longer be a waste of anyone else's energy.

Of course that was only _if_ the eggs were viable, and had at least _some_ magical potential—or, a much likelier possibility, _if_ the eggs contained strong and mostly male dragonets. If she happened to lay eggs that contained females who had no magical potential whatsoever, she would be denied the ability to breed and would become casteless, just like her mother had become.

Evanth had been told once by one of the kindly female dragons serving her and her mama their allotment of food for the day—after she had been bemoaning her sad lot in life—that the other eggs in her clutch had had great magical potential. That had likely been due to her father—she had never been told who he was, and had never met him because he apparently felt that she was such an embarrassment—but because her mother had obviously been so physically weak, the rest of her clutch had died in their eggs.

It was presumed that their great magical potential had killed them before they could even hatch because it warred with their weak physical bodies. Only Evanth, who was known to have the magical talent of a human of their world outside the Great Barrier, had survived and likely only because her talent was so weak so as not to consume her.

Evanth had heard more often than not, that many of the males wished that at least one of those eggs had survived to hatch, _because_ all of the eggs Evanth's mother had laid _had_ been female. Many of the males, and a number of the females lamented that if only one of those eggs had survived instead of Evanth, _that female_ wouldn't have been a total loss for _she_ at least would have been able to cast magic.

It depressed Evanth to know that her dead sisters were more desired than she was.

She would have ended her life early on, except for one thing. Her mama.

Her mother was so much more hurt over the loss of her eggs than Evanth was over being execrated for what she was, that Evanth knew if she did something so selfish, her mama would take her own life as well. Her poor mama, who had suffered so much already just to provide for her baby girl, was already past the breaking point. All she had left in her poor shattered life was her only daughter, Evanth. Evanth knew that everything her mama did was to make her life that much better. And she knew she could never give up so easily because her mama _never had_.

Evanth wasn't surprised that this kindly female knew more than she did about her own dead sisters—Evanth and her mother were the subject of much gossip among practically every caste in their society, except maybe the priestly caste. Being in such a small city with only dragons for company for centuries made its inhabitants even more isolated from the rest of the world, and gossip was the best way to pass the time while work was being done. Fortunately, that female dragon hadn't said what she had to be mean to Evanth. The female Golden Dragons of Flarelord's Order typically weren't mean to other females, especially not when they were in the same caste, or close to it. They may not go out of their way to talk to _her_ or make friends with her, but they also didn't go out of their way to be cruel to her either.

That seemed to be the job of the males.

And the High Priestesses—but then they typically were cloistered within the temple, and were not allowed to converse with the lesser born, like Evanth.

Still, it had hurt to hear the actual reason she was so reviled.

It wasn't her fault, was it?

Evanth knew better than to bring up such a subject to her mama, who seemed more and more listless as the years passed. She knew better than to bring her poor mama more grief, especially when she could see just how broken her mother was. Her mother's eyes had long ago lost that spark of life to them that everyone else seemed to have. But even without it, her mama still told her everyday that she loved her precious daughter and that she would do anything she could to make Evanth happy.

No, Evanth would never tell her mama about her personal troubles, about the cruelty of the other Golden Dragons.

But Evanth was tired of being different. Of being scorned and worse by the males that passed her by in the huge halls and walkways of their city.

Of being ignored.

Of being useless.

Of being unwanted.

Evanth knew her duty was to her God, Vrabazard. Even if she was dismissed by the other Golden Dragons because she was a mere low class female. Even if she was detested because she had no magic in her being. Even if her dead sisters would have made much more desirable female dragons than she. Even if she, like her mother, would never bear a proper clutch and become casteless.

She was still a Golden Dragon of Firelord Vrabazard.

And her God could not abhor her.

Evanth was one of His creations. And she had been taught that all of His creations had purpose. She had survived because He felt there was reason for her existence. She didn't yet know what that function was, but she was determined to make sure she lived up to it and pleased her God with her determination. She would not be a waste, and her talents would not be squandered.

And if the Elders of Vrabazard's Temple could not come up with a better purpose for her than breeding, then she would.

Evanth knew from her studies that not all priestly work was magic and potions and worship to their God. There was cleaning to do, and other non-essential tasks that the priestly caste was not expected to _soil_ themselves with.

She had pestered the oldest priestesses—whose magic was practically drained from their frail old bodies and were no longer as important as they once were—about what needed doing most and had discovered that there was an even greater need in the temple.

Anyone could clean the Temple of debris. And acolytes, those Golden Dragons who actually had enough magical talent to cast some spells—like mage lights—were important for setting up the altars and magic circles required for heavy duty spell casting done by the priests. Acolytes were supposed to make sure the side chapels and shrines were kept in order for praying and worship. But not everyone could write legibly, or more importantly, not everyone could make exact copies by hand of whatever was before them. A scribe was sometimes—according to those old priestesses—the single most important person in a temple, not the priests and priestesses, the acolytes or even the servants.

And there was _always_ a need for scribes.

Magic users didn't have time to copy their complicated and practically illegible grimoires into comprehensible books for usage by their pupils. Priests always had letters and correspondence that needed to be written and the time it took to actually write it all out was unacceptable when those priests had other duties that needed to be attended to—like praying to their God.

And, Evanth's penmanship wasn't too shabby.

Plus, books and spells always needed to be translated from Ancient Golden into Common for the younger priests that didn't have the time to learn their ancient language and then still cast the powerful magicks expected of them.

Evanth had been praised, on more than one occasion, for her absolute brilliance in languages. It was the only thing, aside from her lovely script, that she had ever been commended for in her entire life.

That small bit of praise was like water to a dying plant.

It made her flourish!

She took that approval and applied herself to all of her studies, except for the ones that required magical learning and that she was not allowed to attend anyway. Evanth wanted to hear more and more compliments, so she had become very studious during the three hundred and fifty years of life that she had been allowed to learn outside of her home.

If nothing else, Evanth was _very_ clever, and she realized that she had a place among Vrabazard's Golden Dragons after all. She could be a scribe, and she would be a good one.

The best.

With her only prospect in life the demeaning task of a brood female, or worse if that didn't work out, she prepared herself for her interview with the Elders. She had gone before them once previously, and aside from being nervous, she had been unprepared. Which was to be expected with a mother who had withdrawn into herself, and no one to explain to a struggling young Evanth what to expect when she faced the Elders, the first and only time, for her purpose.

Evanth did not want to be allowed a single chance at being a brood female, and then to end up like her beloved mama, without any prospects but pure drudgery.

So yes, she may have been weak magically speaking, and she may have only been a weak female unable to do much physically beyond breeding. But her other skills could be useful. Those skills may not be viewed as too important by the _priests_—but they were still important enough that she may have found a better purpose than what she was expected to do, to become.

Evanth walked into the long dark hall that was the lone entrance to the chamber that the Elders took their councils. Evanth knew that this hall had been created for dragons, for her kind—but as a low caste female, she was not allowed to be in her dragon form for more than a couple of hours a day, and this was not one of those times. She felt like an ant walking through the hallway of a human's home. She stood as straight as she could, but in her human form she was rather diminutive… and chubby.

For the most part her human form reflected her current health as a true Golden Dragon, and the plumpness of her figure compared to other female dragons her age showed she was extraordinarily healthy—too healthy, in fact. She was only around four hundred years old, and she was still a hundred years or so off from puberty—at least based on the time scale when all the female dragons were officially considered adults, which was at five hundred years. Evanth knew her human body was changing to accommodate this, growing older, despite the fact that it was supposed to stop so that she looked like she was only thirteen. The other girls that were her age and older all looked as they were supposed to. Evanth on the other hand, felt like she looked just a tiny bit older… maybe fourteen? Her human body had actually developed breasts and hips—nothing prominent like her mama or any of the other adult females who had been adjusted physically when they turned five hundred—but enough that she stood out quite a bit in comparison to the other girls.

Perhaps it was because she had yet to lose her baby fat…

And maybe because she was eating more than she was supposed to.

Her mama wasn't eating as much as she was supposed to for an adult, so Evanth ate most of her mama's portion as well—Evanth couldn't bear to see the food go to waste, and it would go to waste if she didn't eat it. She knew it was against the teachings—that females weren't allowed more than a certain amount of food per day and were only given the amount they were expected to eat for the age they were. But she just could not stand the idea of burning or discarding the very nutrition that she hungered for day after day, and as she grew older the amount she hungered for increased. Even with the amount she ate, including most of her mama's adult portion, she still fell asleep hungry every night.

She couldn't imagine how her mama was surviving on so little.

Perhaps it was because she was already an adult.

Evanth had been told that females stopped growing after they hit puberty, after they had their first clutch. It certainly seemed that way. All the adult females that she had seen flying around the temple were all the same size and rather small when she really thought about it.

The males of her race, especially the adult males, were huge when compared to the fully-grown females. An adult female of five hundred years next to a male of the same age was always half the size of her male counterpart. The same female next to a male twice her age was sometimes only a third the size of the male. And Evanth had once seen an adult female next to the Supreme Elder—she had only been a fourth the size of the Supreme Elder. She had been told once, by that same kindly female dragon serving her her food, that the males didn't stop growing—and Evanth could certainly attest that this was accurate just based on the fact that the oldest males were definitely the largest.

Finally the enormous doors swung open to allow Evanth admittance into the council chamber. It was a long slow walk to the middle of the room, the eyes of the Elders and of the gigantic statue of her God on her the entire time. She prayed quite fervently to Vrabazard that she wouldn't fall this time.

The first time she had ever entered this hall, she had face-planted badly in front of the very Elders she had hoped to impress—she had taken too deep a step in her hurry and tripped on the hem of her hand-me-down dress, ripping the practically threadbare material at the knees and showing the skin of her legs into the bargain—and they didn't take too kindly to her clumsiness, or nakedness, in front of their God, or themselves for that matter.

When Evanth was in the center of the room, like last time, she realized that they would not be generous this time and allow her a chair. That hurt, but she refused to allow it to affect her. She had been upset by far worse, a lot of the insults thrown at her while she had only been a child were much more vindictive than this petty one.

The Supreme Elder spoke up the moment she was in the exact center of the room. "So, you have learned a little more decorum in the past year."

He was trying to keep her off balance mentally, but she held her head high instead. He had snidely told her a year ago that she would exist as a breeding female—not that she had been expecting much else—and then nothing more than a servant to a large number of the males if her first clutch was less than a miracle. With the knowledge she had now, she knew her future sanity was at stake if she stayed on that path. She would not end up like her beloved mama—Evanth knew that even now, her mama was doing more than cleaning while she was in the lairs of the males she worked for. She was in the service of only males for a reason, and it was not because they needed her as a _breeder_.

The older male practically sneered down on her. "You have us asked to convene. Do not waste our time."

It was now or never, and Evanth would not waste her last chance to be useful in a proper setting. "I would implore you to reconsider my purpose."

The Supreme Elder sat back in his high-backed chair, the scowl on his gnarly old face and the snarl on his thin lips making him look every inch the predator he was. It was obvious that he had been expecting this, and he'd had the time to formulate an argument against her. "Reconsider? You are to be a brood female to build up our depleted stock of fighting males—_if_ your body can actually sustain a clutch _longer_ than your _whore_ of a mother. If it cannot, than you will do what is expected of you and service the males whose mates are brooding and unable. What is there to _reconsider_? You are not _mating_ material. Your utterly weak talent in magic proves that. And out of your mother's first clutch only _you_ survived, which means the same will likely happen to you as well. You are not even _fit_ to become a breeding female based on these disadvantages alone, and yet you _beseech_ me to reconsider?" There was almost a laugh there, at the end of his speech, as if he found the whole idea preposterous.

Evanth steeled up her courage, she had to in the face of such oppression. She _would_ _not_ be a whore. There _had_ to be more to life than that. Her Lord Vrabazard could not have made sure she alone survived out of her dead clutch just to be a whore among His servants. "I do, Supreme Elder."

The Supreme Elder snarled. "And what is it that you think _you_ can do, that others could not do better?"

Evanth gulped. "I am quite adept at languages Supreme Elder. And I have been told on more than one occasion that my writing is that of a scribe's skill level, and that with time, and more experience and practice, it could be even better."

One of the Elders spoke up, while the Supreme Elder glared at Evanth. He was not as old as the Supreme Elder, but then again, she didn't think any dragon could be as old. What was the Supreme Elder, two… three thousand years old? He was also not as cruel as the Supreme Elder seemed to be, as he looked as if he were actually considering her statement. "If this is the truth, then why did you not say so before when we asked you a year ago what talents you possessed?"

Here it was; the glimmer of hope she had might actually have a basis. "I was not aware at that time that these were skills of any import. I was told that only magical talent was the most important thing I could have."

The Supreme Elder was quick to cut her hopes down. "_It is_. We are a priestly order. Do you honestly think that a _female_ has any worth besides magic and the ability to produce viable offspring?"

Evanth grasped tightly to her hopes, her dreams and the last of her courage. If he said no after this, she was done for. She _would_ be just another temple whore, her body to be used until she was a mere reflection of what once was or could have been. "I am sorry Supreme Elder-

"As you should be." The old man interrupted as he triumphantly smirked down at her.

Evanth had not finished, and she hated that he thought she was supplicating forgiveness from him. That spark of anger forced her to drive her words through with more vehemence than was allowed an underage low caste female to her elders. "I am sorry Supreme Elder, Elders, but do not priestly orders also _need_ scribes and translators? Our priests and priestesses cannot be expected to _waste_ their time with such _tedious_ work when they can be _bettering_ their magical skills. I have heard say, while serving at the temple, that there is even a backlog of work that needs to be done with the grimoires as there haven't been scribes enough to copy down all the new Holy Spells that have been created since the Kôma War. Surely I could be of more _use_ with just my scribing abilities alone, than wasting away until I am of age to _eventually_ produce an unfit clutch. I would think you would want my time spent more _wisely_ at least until I am old enough to be suited with another task."

For the first time since Evanth had walked into this way too large council chamber, the Supreme Elder was not sneering down at her. He was frowning, yes, but not sneering. She didn't know if that was a good sign. Without even a glance to his fellows, the old male gave a slight imperceptible nod. Evanth might have missed it had she not been paying such close attention to him. "Leave us."

Evanth did as she was told, and immediately. She knew not to expect a yes so soon. A definite no was the only response she would have gotten right then. They still might tell her no. But at least now, they would reconsider their former ruling, and she had a possible chance of yes.

Her glimmer of hope for a better life became just a spark brighter as the massive doors closed behind her.

The adrenaline wracking through her body from facing the Supreme Elder a second time was wearing off, and her nerves were hitting her full-tilt. She even had to stop for a moment just to calm herself down a bit. She hadn't eaten anything all day for fear of puking it and looking less decorous in front of the Council of Elders. She was glad now that she hadn't eaten because she still felt like puking, especially as she thought of how the conversation could have turned had she not argued her case more effectively. Evanth hoped the nerve sickness would go away soon because the afternoon time was coming up for all the females to transform into their dragon forms so they could stretch their wings and fly. And she dare not go flying without anything in her stomach. But even now, she wasn't hungry.

How could she be after facing him? The Supreme Elder wanted her to fail, wanted her to be just another whore like her mother.

She was young and vigorous, and her mama was not.

Evanth had heard complaints on more than one occasion that it was too bad that she was still too young to be taken. It had made her blood run cold. She was not naïve, not about that at least. She knew what she was expected of her. Her mama had nightmares constantly, and some of the things she screamed whilst in the grip of them were chilling. Evanth knew exactly what she had to look forward to for the rest of her life if she just let the world go by without trying to change it.

And the hungry stares were starting to get bad. They were even worse than the looks of disgust she had gotten most of her life. The males _didn't_ want her to be a brood female, as that meant that she would actually be mated to only the strongest of the lot, or the one that would produce the best offspring with her—which meant most of them wouldn't get a chance to _have_ her. The males were hoping she'd turn out just like her mother and be barren. They were hoping she'd become casteless, because that meant she was fair game, to any and all of them.

They, like the Supreme Elder, _wanted_ her to be their _new_ whore…

In her human form, Evanth _was_ short… and pudgy. It wasn't exactly a choice she had made. Her mama had made the decision for her human design when she had been a wee babe, and until she hit puberty, she couldn't change one part of it. Her muddy brown hair was not the beautiful pale golden blonde like the rest of the females, though her eyes were still gold. Well, they were kind of a pale greenish gold, more like a cat than a true Golden Dragon. She wasn't sure what her mama had been thinking when she designed her body, as she felt she could have at least made Evanth look like the rest of her race—that way she wouldn't have stood out so much. She could have at least blended in more with the other females of her caste and just been different for who she was and how she had been born, not because she also looked different and… ugly.

But despite looking so unattractive in her human form, she could not change how she looked in her true form. Although her eyes and hair strangely stayed the same color while she was in her dragon form.

Evanth reveled in being able to fly each day—it was all the exercise she was allowed and even if only for a few hours, she felt free and she took every second she could to stretch her wings.

And as she had gotten older, her body had gotten larger and stronger. She was much larger than many of the other females her age, and almost on par with some of the older females, even the fully-grown adult females. She didn't tell anyone why. That she was likely eating one and a half times more than they were. She would be punished severely, and so would her mama, if word like that got out.

So in her dragon form, she looked much older than she was because she was much bigger than she was supposed to be for her age. Perhaps that was why the Supreme Elder wanted her to become a whore like her mother—because she was healthier, stronger and would last far longer than any of the other females delegated to that demeaning task.

It seemed females in that undignified charge didn't seem to last very long, or perhaps they were letting their bodies waste away, so they didn't have to continue doing what their souls cried out against.

Her poor mama seemed to be a prime example.

None of them killed themselves, or attempted to kill themselves. They were under such careful watch, that hardly any of them dared try. Oh she was sure a few of them had likely tried in the earlier years of their slavery, and perhaps that was why there were always males around in every corridor or room and a fair number outside the city, always watching…

To make sure none of the females died before their time.

It was another reason Evanth was trying so hard to be a scribe. It may not be much of a position in terms of excitement, but it would keep her locked away in an area where she might be forgotten about as the males pursued other forms of enjoyment, the more available females they saw everyday. As a scribe she might actually be safe from the unwanted attentions of the males. And it wouldn't be wholly bad, despite how boring it may have seemed to others.

She'd be surrounded by books.

Evanth had never gotten more pleasure, other than being in her true form and flying, than when she had been let loose in one of the libraries. Having become as studious as she was, she loved learning new things. If she could translate old texts into the common tongue, not only would she be useful to her race, but she'd also be learning valuable information that had previously been hidden from her. She could not wait to start that part of her life!

But she was getting ahead of herself. Just because the Supreme Elder had not said no outright, didn't mean he was going to say yes. She _still_ had to be prepared for the worst.

A reminder of what the worst was was just a few paces down the hall, his golden eyes watching her every movement as she came closer to him.

The fact that he was there was odd since not many Golden Dragons were ever seen in this hall. It was typically abandoned unless the Supreme Elder called for the council and did a summons, which did not happen very often and definitely not twice on the same day. The Supreme Elder liked to space meetings out so that he met with someone once a week, if not once a month.

Evanth didn't know whom this male Golden Dragon was exactly, not in terms of name or purpose—just an older male who had staked her out as a possible _servant_… when she finally came of age.

He always seemed genial when he spoke down to her, but she could read his body posture very well. She was prey, and the only reason he hadn't gone after her yet was because the Supreme Elder had not given the okay. She was still only four hundred years old after all, and she had a hundred years more to go before she finally hit puberty and was allowed to bear her first clutch. It was a flimsy type of armor, but it was the only one she had against those insidious stares from those predatory males.

Unfortunately, that flimsy armor didn't stop this male from touching her in ways that made her uncomfortable.

Even if all the touches could easily be described as innocent and were just gentle caresses of the skin on her face or her exposed arms, or his fingers running through her long mousy brown hair, there was still the worst one of all, the one that made her shudder beneath her robes. It was the slightly possessive grip on her shoulder as he pulled her close to him so she could feel the burning heat of his body and more often as of late, something protruding from the lower half of his robe that was unlike anything she had ever experienced outside of what happened when she was alone with him.

The only thing she could guess that it was was perhaps a weapon of some sort, for no male walked around without one.

Since she had not been trained to heal, as healing required at least some magical talent, she knew nothing about anatomy other than what she saw of herself and her mother in their human forms. And aside from the largess of the male dragons, there wasn't much of a difference between a female and a male whilst in their dragon forms.

As far as she knew, males in human form just didn't have _breasts_…

She may not have been naïve in what was expected of her as a lowly female caste member of the Golden Dragons, but in this she was still very much an innocent. And she did not like any of the advances that this male thought he could make with her. Her shy backing away from him always seemed to make him more resolute about keeping hold on her, and that frightened her, since that thing of his always seemed to press into her harder the more she tried to move away from it.

And he always made sure he did this to her when no one else was around to witness his sly actions towards her. It was almost like he planned on them being alone before he tried anything with her.

He smiled when he saw she was close enough to see his face. Evanth supposed that in his human form, he could be deemed handsome—his human form was very typical of all the male Golden Dragons that she had seen in her short lifetime, tall with a muscular body hidden behind the concealing robes and long tunics the Golden Dragon males all wore. He had sharp golden eyes, shoulder length golden blond hair, and tanned golden skin—but his very demeanor towards her repulsed her. She shuddered in remembrance at the possessive sound he always had in his voice when he was around her—his very tone always made her skin crawl, though she supposed other females might find his baritone attractive.

Evanth wanted to back away from him and run back into to the council chambers. She may have been punished severely by the Elders for it, but at least she'd have escaped this older male and whatever his intentions were.

She didn't dare though as much as her instincts implored her to.

To escape him today only meant he could corner her later, and she'd be in even more trouble, for he would take it as an affront to his dignity and the Supreme Elder would punish her for such audacity. She was only a mere female, and a child. It was a requirement of both those unfortunate facts that she speak to an older male who made an effort to speak with her.

She should feel _honored_ that he would give her the time of day!

And she could not leave him until he either dismissed her, or he left her without so much as a by your leave. She absolutely hated the control the males had over the females.

But this was how it had always been, and it would remain this way, forever and always.

"Ah my lovely Evanth, I had wondered where you had gone off to. Usually about this time you're out flying. Are you well?"

Evanth hated that he could be so free with her name, that he could lay claim to her with a simple 'my' in front of her name like she already belonged to him. And she really hated that he knew her schedule so well.

Was she so habitual? She would have to change her routine more frequently if that was the case.

Unfortunately, she was only allowed to be in her dragon form either early in the morning or late in the afternoon, and she and her fellow 'sisters' were constantly watched by a contingent of the male warriors to '_ensure they didn't hurt themselves with too much exercise_'.

She knew that was not the case at all.

A number of females in the same caste as she and expected to do the same as she if their clutches failed like her mother, had tried to escape their enslavement before. It had not ended well. They had been caught, and quickly since their poor malnourished bodies were not used to such harsh physical strain like the hard flying required while being chased by stronger, well-fed males—males who knew how to teleport, which the females of her caste had never been taught. They hadn't even made it a quarter of the way to the mountains in the distance before they had been taken down by their captors, three males for every female.

And they had all been made examples of.

In Evanth's humble opinion, those poor females were the worst off, for they had lost their ability to think as well as any freedom they may have had had they just stayed put. The Supreme Elder had erased their minds, but only after they had experienced the pain of being flagellated with spiked chains, and then allowed to wallow in their misery and pain for a time, as they knew they would never know any type of freedom ever again.

She didn't know the exact details of what had happened to those females afterwards, just that they weren't killed. She had heard the rumors though, all the females of the lower castes had—that those poor females were kept in the dungeons, and used by any male that needed a quick… _fix_. And if they happened to become pregnant, their eggs were taken away from them immediately once they had been laid.

Not even being forced to become a breeder, or serving like her mama did could be as bad as that.

It was after learning of this that Evanth knew that the Supreme Elder was not a male to be trusted or liked, ever. She didn't think she could ever trust any male Golden Dragon, knowing this. But even if she didn't trust them, she was still stuck with them and had to make the best out of her situation in any way she could.

Which meant playing nice with a male she would have liked to snarl and hiss at instead.

Evanth ducked her head, attempting some semblance of the subservience she never felt toward any of the males. "I am well My Lord."

He was all charm, and were she less experienced in watching people, she would have thought he actually meant every word. But _he_ was one of the males that took her mama on occasion. He did it in _their_ lair too, instead of his own like most of the others—like he was supposed to. She wondered briefly if he was thinking about her as he and her mother… mated.

She shuddered at the very thought. He couldn't possibly be thinking about her like that, she was too young and he was way too old for her.

"I'm glad to hear it. I would not want my pretty Evanth to be ill. What were you doing then, if you don't mind my asking?"

Evanth did mind, greatly. It was none of his business what she was up to. But she could not sass a male, especially one who was at least thrice her age, if not more. She and her mother would get into a great deal of trouble. Whatever protection she received because she was too young to yet be a breeder might be lost, and she was very afraid of being in _his_ charge a hundred years too early. "I was seeing the Elders."

There was a slight frown on his face and it was almost too quick to catch, but catch it she did. She winced. She should have added 'My Lord' after that last bit. But she just couldn't force it past her lips. And now she knew she had to be on her guard, for he had not liked her response. His posture indicated that quite clearly even if his face did not.

His smile was just a hint too wide as he asked, "Whatever for? It must have been something important, for they don't call a council for just anything."

He had moved a few steps closer to her, almost hovering in her personal space. Evanth knew she dared not move. If she did, he'd find a reason to move even closer, and she couldn't allow that.

She was already close to being backed up against the wall of the hall as it was. He would effectively close off her escape if she moved away from him. She knew she had to keep her responses brief; so as not to give more than she had to away, but she knew it wouldn't help. He was pressing her for the information, and he would get it out of her.

"My future purpose."

His eyes narrowed, and for just an instant she could see that possessive nature of his lurking in them. The anger in those eyes didn't leave for a full minute before his smile was back in place, the heated look in his eyes gone… for the moment. He grabbed a lock of her hair and Evanth had to fight not to cringe. "I recall that your purpose had _already_ been decided a year ago. When you turned four hundred."

Evanth lowered her head. She knew she was now on very dangerous ground with this male. She could feel the heat of his body radiating out and caressing her bare skin, the heat of his anger with her, and the heat of something else… She couldn't place it, had never had to. He had never come on to her this strongly before. No male had. "I believe that I can be of greater use elsewhere."

She couldn't see his face, didn't want to see his face, but she could hear the edge in his voice. "What _greater use_ could there be for a beautiful young dragon like yourself? I believe a number of my fellows would agree that the purpose decided for you last year suited you _just fine_."

Evanth didn't dare look up. He might interpret it as disrespect, and that was the last thing she wanted him to think, when he seemed so furious with her already. "I wish to serve Lord Vrabazard in whatever capacity I can."

His moves had somehow become more predatory as the grip on her hair got tighter, and he was slowly pulling her closer to him, closer to the heat of his body. Evanth was truly frightened now, and her instincts were practically begging her to run away from this suddenly dangerous male.

But she didn't know how!

She had never once been taught that situations like this came up, that males could become dangerous around females they viewed as their property, and she had realized a little too late that he viewed her as his.

And she was not allowed to fight back, not that she knew how—low caste females were not allowed to learn anything close to self-defense. The excuse had been that their males would protect them from bodily harm.

But what if those very males were the ones wishing that bodily harm on you, what then?

"You _would_ be serving Him, by _serving_ the men under His command."

She didn't know how to respond. She couldn't lie to him, he would know, or he would find out. But if she told him the truth, the consequences could be just as bad, if not worse.

"Nothing to say My Evanth? You just wanted to _waste_ the time of the Elders with your female _silliness_?" There was a snarl in his voice, more vicious than anything the Supreme Elder had thrown at her—but then the Supreme Elder thought she was worthless. This male obviously saw something in her that made him want her, despite her youth, despite her being a pariah in their society.

She shook her head, opening her mouth several times, but her fear of him eclipsed her ability to speak.

Evanth was suddenly shoved against the wall, the older male's large body was pressing against her, his weight crushing her—his fingers were digging into the flesh of her upper arms, bruising her with their force as he firmly kept her in place, unable to escape this madness. That protuberant thing from his lower half was digging almost avidly into her abdomen. And her fear only grew the more he pressed his body into her. He pressed his nose and mouth right against her bare neck, inhaling her scent, her fear.

She could feel the heat of his mouth as it hovered right above her jugular. Could feel the points of his teeth as they grazed her sensitive skin. Could feel his moist tongue as it tenderly caressed her neck.

He was actually _tasting_ her!

And that horrible thing pushing into her robe-covered belly practically throbbed in time with her own racing pulse, the pulse she was certain he could feel through his tongue as it lingered on her jugular.

Evanth tried to move away from him, but his human form towered over hers by at least two feet, and his strength was incomparable—she had no idea how much larger he was than she in his dragon form, but he had to be huge. He held her easily in place, and her struggling only seemed to make that thing behind his robes grow in size. Any larger, any longer, and she was certain that he was about to impale her on the spear that most of the warrior males carried around. One of his hands was suddenly on her chin, forcing her to look up into his eyes—bright golden eyes that were blazing with fury, his face contorted with rage.

Did he want her dead that much?

"Tell me, _My Lovely Evanth_, just how you think _you_, a poorly educated low caste female, can choose a better purpose for yourself compared to a High Council of males whose entire job is to decide where you may serve best at?"

If she didn't answer him now, he would surely kill her with that spear of his. And despite her hatred of her lot in life, she still wanted to live—if only for her mama's sake. "I asked… I mean… I believe I… I might be able to serve… the priests and priestesses of our temple better, as… as… as a scribe."

The older male laughed. It seemed to be such a jolly laugh, and she could feel the vibrations of it through her body, that spear of his stabbing her each time his body shook with his mirth. And just when she thought the levity of his laugh had broken the tension surrounding him, and that he might pull away from her, his laugh cut off mid-belly shake. He sneered down at her, his lips curling over his teeth, making his face a feral mask of rage.

"A scribe."

Evanth nodded. "I-

He slapped her, hard.

Evanth couldn't stop the gasp of pain that came through her parted lips—she had never imagined that he would hit her! She looked back up at his demonic visage, tears of pain in the corners of her eyes. Her right cheek throbbed with pain, and she tasted a little blood as she gulped, knowing that he had hit her hard enough for her molars and canines to slice the inside of her cheek and mouth. He grabbed her chin again, and with her mouth open once more, even she could scent the blood in the air.

It seemed to spark the predatory instincts in him.

The older male growled and began rubbing that protuberant thing against her stomach even as his lips crashed down upon hers, crushing her mouth with the strength of his. His tongue began probing her lips, and she tried hard to keep her mouth shut to him, her jaw firmly locked. He didn't take this too kindly, for his sharp incisors sunk into the soft flesh of her lips, causing her to gasp in pain once more—subsequently opening her mouth to him.

His tongue invaded her mouth and she fought to keep her whimpers silent, but he bit her lips again, harder this second time, actually piercing through her skin. She couldn't stop her cry and that seemed to affect him even more. He began to grind his hips and that thing against her stomach with even more fervor, even as his mouth claimed hers. She could taste the metallic tang of her blood once more as he sucked and tongued the bites he had made on her lips—she tasted something sweet as well, something that made her slightly dizzy, that made her moans of pain just a hint louder as they escaped her throat.

Each sound she made, made his physical reactions to her worse, made him respond in kind with his own grunts and groans. The hand that held her chin slithered its way down her back, pressing her more viciously against his hips, even as the hand that held her upper arm pulled harder, practically wrenching it out of its socket. The howl of pain that Evanth made seemed to undo him and suddenly his hips were rubbing against her stomach almost violently, his spear stabbing her painfully without impaling her, and just as suddenly, he shuddered against her with a groan of relief.

Evanth couldn't stop her whine, as his full weight pressed in against her, pinning her to the wall. He was much heavier than anything she could compare to, but at least that painful spear of his seemed to be shrinking and going away. She could not move, not with his bulk pressing against her so tightly—though if he moved away, she feared her legs would give out beneath her for she felt incredibly woozy. She wanted to sob, knowing he had done something very wrong, but knowing no one would believe a prepubescent female over an adult male in his prime. Even with the bites on her lips, which could be easily explained away, there just was not enough proof in her favor, and if there had been, she would likely be blamed because she had been 'leading him on'.

She had heard it happen many times before, and the female never won, unless she was a priestess, and even then…

His next words proved her musings to be correct, the previous anger in his tone gone, replaced by a lethargic condescension. "See what you made me do? Oh my poor young beautiful Evanth. You need to learn not to anger me. I can't help myself around you, you know that… _my sweet little tease_."

He lifted her chin with his hand again, forcing her to look up at him. When she averted her eyes, he jerked her chin up higher, the sharp nails on his fingers pricking the flesh of her cheeks drawing yet more blood from her body. There was a definite snarl in his tone. "_Look_ at me when I'm talking to you."

Evanth quickly looked into his eyes, afraid he was going to repeat what he had just done to her. His face was still gentle, but his dark golden eyes were made of steel.

"Good girl. Now you forget this _silly_ little notion of becoming a scribe. You're needed in a _much_ more important place. I've had my eyes on you for a while now, and you _don't_ want to disappoint me by not giving me the opportunity of tasting your nubile flesh the moment you come of age, do you?"

Evanth didn't answer.

_Couldn't_ answer.

"_Do you?!_" There was now a growl in his voice.

Evanth shook her head, even as her lips trembled, her dizziness all the greater from the extra movement.

He pet her hair, and gently caressed her face, his fingertips smoothing the bloody scratches on her cheeks. He licked those fingers, and placed them again on her scratches, his saliva burning the cuts. "That's my girl. My _good_ young Evanth. I have already spoken to the Supreme Elder about it. I'll be your first mate, and if I have any say, your _only_ mate. My offspring typically aren't magical in nature, but they are strong and healthy. Just like you, my lovely Evanth. That means our first clutch will _survive_ the hatching. Which means you won't have to be a whore for just any male that wants you. Only _I_ will have you. Understand, my perfect Evanth?"

Evanth could barely nod, the dizziness overwhelming even her fear of him.

"That's my good sweet girl. Now when the Supreme Elder tells you that this notion of yours is ridiculous, you will agree and then _plead_ to become my mate, _understand_?" His tone became sharper as he asked.

Evanth finally spoke up, her fear of being mated to this horrible male overcoming the woozy sensations plaguing her confused mind. "But I'm not old-

The older male snarled. "You're young yes, but your body…" She trembled as he touched her in ways that could definitely not be mistaken as innocent, especially not after what he had just done to her. The hand that had held her arm so painfully released her as he slowly caressed his way down her back, smoothed over her bottom, to her hip and then up to her breasts, giving each part of her body a firm squeeze.

She winced with each touch, more tears forming at the corners of her eyes. But Evanth refused to let them fall—not in front of him, especially since he was still watching her face so intently—as if memorizing her pain, and her fear of him and his touch.

His smile came back, pleased that she was still so untouched by any other male. He would have known if she had been claimed, the male's scent would have been all over her. Now his was. He reveled in being the first to make a claim on her luscious young body. And even if she washed herself—which he knew she would—his scent would still remain on her for some time, especially since she only did sponge baths. He knew that was the only type of bathing that she did, for he had listened to her outside of her small room as she did so, wishing he could interrupt her and assist her with her cleansing ritual.

Unfortunately her mother was always there when he was, so he never could.

"Your body is well developed enough that even if you are not yet capable of laying eggs, you are still capable of pleasing your mate. Besides delivering a vast number of healthy clutches, pleasing your mate should be your top priority. And _when_ we are mated, I will make sure that your human body becomes much more developed so as to please me better. I can assure you, my sweet succulent Evanth, I will make sure _you_ please me _greatly_."

He kissed her one last time, a gentle touch of lips upon lips, but there was still pain involved for not only had he drawn blood when he bit her and kissed her the first time, he had also bruised her. And then he was gone, whistling merrily as he disappeared. Evanth collapsed in heap against a column near the wall that she had just been violated against, the tears finally streaming down her slack face, her only testament to how distraught she truly was.

xxxx

Filia Ul Copt knew life could not get any better. When the messenger had come to her at her afternoon meditations, the Supreme Elder requesting her presence in the Council Chambers, she just knew that she was finally beginning to be taken seriously. She was already surpassing the expectations put to her by her priests, and even her father and the Supreme Elder were secretly pleased with her progress, though she was often told not to boast of such things to the Golden Dragons of lower status than she. Her Holy Magic spells were coming along quite nicely and Filia had learned to teleport to different places around Flarelord's city with ease—though she was not allowed to use that particular ability unless there was dire need, which there never was since the last war had happened and no others were on the horizon with the Mazoku Lords bound up in keeping that silly barrier of theirs up—besides, she could easily traverse the distance of their fair city and temple just by walking.

The Supreme Elder had _needed_ to see her, and this time the summons was official and in regards to her duties as a priestess, and not just because he wanted to see how his favorite was getting along in her daily life. It was no secret—even to Filia—that the young priestess Filia was the Supreme Elder's favorite. She was the daughter of Bazard Ul Copt after all. And Lord Bazard was a powerful male dragon, both in magical and martial prowess.

Lord Bazard Ul Copt was one of the few males who had assisted in the Kôma War and come back alive and practically unscathed, if the rumors were anything to go by. On a few occasions, Filia had been graced with seeing her father in his true form, and she could attest that he did not have any deformities or violent scars on his person. There were not very many male Golden Dragons who could boast to having such merits like Lord Bazard, and there were even fewer who made it out of the war completely unscathed like he had. And a number of the male Golden Dragons who _had_ fought in the war, and come back alive, had come back wounded both in body and mind.

Even the Supreme Elder had a few scars on his hide, though Filia wasn't entirely sure those came from the Kôma War, not that she knew where else they could have come from—but she dare not ask, as that would be impertinent.

More often than not, Filia was told she was too important to tend to those male dragons who were mentally unstable after the atrocities of the war, and the jobs were given to the less magically apt priestesses of their order, priestesses who could handle the psychoses of the mentally damaged male dragons. She had heard that the war had been bad, but her father had declared that she was not to know much about it, and what Lord Bazard Ul Copt declared, especially in regards to his daughter Filia, was final. It didn't mean Filia hadn't heard the stories of the war, of the horrible atrocities created by the Mazoku and their Generals, Priests and underlings, but whenever the stories ever took a dark turn, too dark for her ears apparently, an older male would always appear and scold the female she was speaking with.

Filia sighed. She never got to hear any of the juicy gossip.

Of course what the Supreme Elder had needed, when Filia finally made it to the Council Chambers, had really been suited more towards an acolyte or a scribe, and not an important priestess like herself. Unfortunately there were not very many acolytes in the temple who were available and since she had only just recently taken her vows, having hit majority more than a few years ago, she was not yet important enough—or strong enough—for the higher magicks of the temple, and therefore _could_ be interrupted from her meditations.

So she was told.

_Filia_ felt she could try some of those higher magicks as they looked easy to her, but her priests kept telling her that she needed to master all the spells she had been given before she could start any stronger magicks. If she was progressing so well with the Holy Spells she had been given, she couldn't see why they wouldn't just give her more advanced spells…

Unfortunately, one particular priest had mentioned to her that her healing spells were not what they could be, and had likely also done so in front of the Supreme Elder, or worse… her father. If he had done so, she supposed she could see why she hadn't yet been advanced. But she truly wasn't sure what they were talking about. She thought her healing abilities were just fine. And it was not like she needed to use them anyway. That was what the healers were for. Besides, she was not the resident healer of the temple—she wasn't even an apprentice healer, nor was she expected to become one.

That was for Lord Devorit. And she would never be as good as Lord Devorit.

He had been considered a child prodigy when it came to the healing arts, for he had the gift of healing at an incredibly young age, even for a Golden Dragon, and he had surpassed all expectations in regards to healing, even creating some very potent healing spells that were used today instead of the more archaic ones that hardly healed the whole body at all. Lord Devorit had even come up with some spells that healed the mind, and that was a very difficult area of the body to fix.

But Lord Devorit's talents literally only lay with healing. Sure he could cast some small Holy Magic Spells and a few other things like Shamanist Magic, but healing was his trump. And Filia was much better at Holy Magic.

Her talents would be wasted on healing magic and most of the priests knew that. But alas, she would never climb the Priestly ladder unless she did as she was told and impressed all of the high priests, not just the Supreme Elder and Lord Bazard.

But even though her healing abilities were not what they could be, and her Holy Magic _likely_ could have been much better and even though she was still considered a lowly priestess because the priests hadn't seen fit to raise her in the ranks, she was still important enough to see the Supreme Elder personally, especially considering her practically royal parentage. It was something the other priestesses had commented on and congratulated her with, as they too had been disrupted in their meditations when the messenger had come into the Temple's Lady Atrium.

But they were not jealous of the attention and affection the Supreme Elder bestowed upon Filia. How could they be?

Filia deserved the respect she was being given, for she had earned it in her own right based on her magical prowess—even if she was Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter. But it was not something she allowed to go to her head. That was unbecoming of a future High Priestess, which she was guaranteed to become once she bore her first clutch in one hundred years time, something all her fellow priestesses agreed upon.

Bearing a magically powerful clutch as a priestess was practically a guarantee to becoming a High Priestess. All the high priestesses agreed that this was how they had risen within the ranks, and they all agreed that Filia was already at the stage that she could become a high priestess; that the only reason she had not yet become one was because she had not yet been mated or born a clutch.

And Filia admitted, only to herself, that she preened just a tiny bit under such effusions of praise, since they were rarely bestowed upon the females of Lord Vrabazard's Golden Dragons, even the priestesses who deserved a lot of that praise for all the work they did.

Once the Supreme Elder had finished his business with her, Filia had bowed to the Supreme Elder and the Elders and began walking out of the Council Chamber, their words ringing in her head. She had to admit that what the Supreme Elder had asked of her was a tiny bit odd, though she didn't say so to him; she hadn't even allowed her expression of doubt to flit across her features, for he would have noticed right away and would have questioned her on it.

Nothing he did was wrong after all, and questioning his motives behind anything was just the silly wonderings of a girl just becoming a woman.

His question regarding the work of their scribes had confused her and caught her off guard. It was not exactly something that she had paid much attention to. Why would she? She was not a talentless acolyte whose only job was to ensure that things were where they were supposed to be when a priest or priestess had a job to perform.

She had had to admit ignorance in that particular area, and his disappointment with her had been quite upsetting. He had hardly ever been upset with her before as she had always done everything he had ever asked of her. Filia had resolved to find the answer for him and be fully prepared with a report of the doings of the acolytes and scribes of the temple by the following week, which was as soon as he'd see her. The Supreme Elder was a very busy man after all, plus, he didn't expect her to discover everything right away—these things took time.

When the Supreme Elder had expressed contentment at her willingness to correct her failure, Filia had been quite relieved. She had never been told that she had to know the inner workings of the temple, but she would do anything to rectify her lack of knowledge in that regard. She only ever wanted to please her father and the Supreme Elder. They were the most important men in her life until she was mated to a High Priest worthy of her highborn blood.

That was a day she looked forward to with great relish, for she would be fulfilling the very purpose she had been born and bred for. She knew her magical talents were extremely high—as she had been told so quite often by everyone she was allowed to speak with—and that with more experience she would be even better, and that when she was properly mated, her offspring would be even stronger, magically speaking, than she was. She even hoped that her future mate was very much like her father, and that her young would not only be strong magically, but physically as well.

Filia finally exited the Council Chamber, her head held high, almost everything right with the world, and admittedly, her head a little in the clouds as she dreamed of the day when she had her first clutch at the behest of the Supreme Elder, Lord Bazard and her mate. She looked forward to being praised even more for having healthy and strong hatchlings whose magical talent far surpassed their mother's and father's.

She still had no idea who she was to be mated to. Her father had told her that the recent crop of young priests weren't good enough for her, and that he wanted the perfect male to be her mate. Filia quite agreed. She knew that the mating of her mother and father had been one of convenience, and that once it had been determined how magically powerful she was going to be, she was immediately placed with a surrogate mother who would teach her the beginnings of magic before she even learned to crawl—which for a Golden Dragon Hatchling took more than a few years.

Filia even knew that she had three brothers and one sister who were not in the priesthood, but because she had been such a gift amongst their clutch, they were well taken care of. She didn't know any of them personally—and wasn't really allowed to waste her time in trying to contact them since none of them were magically able—but her fellow priests and priestesses were more her family now anyway. And though she hardly saw her father much as he was too busy, the Supreme Elder always found time for her, and she absolutely adored him for it.

She was broken from her musings at the sound of a sob coming from her left. Filia stopped and turned to find the cause of such a sound of suffering, especially in the Great Hall. The hall she had been walking in had been dark, but there just near one of the supporting columns, the flash of light reflecting off of tears and two retinas caught her eyes. Normally, had the room been completely dark, she would have immediately seen the small figure huddled against a column near the wall. But there was too much light coming from the clerestory windows near the ceiling of the hallway, and the figure had been well hidden in the darkness surrounding it. Filia walked towards that small figure, noticing almost immediately that whoever it was, the person was actually afraid of her, and had begun crouching even further against the column. She cooed towards the person, taking the gentlest tone she had as she finally got close enough to see whom she was attempting to calm.

Filia was shocked to see that it was just a young girl, no more than three or four hundred years old—four hundred and fifty at most—if her human form was any indication of age. Most likely more than a hundred years younger than Filia herself was, and still stuck in the form her parents had made for her. The girl was adorable, and all Filia wanted to do was hug her, but she kept her distance.

This poor child had obviously had something traumatic happen to her, and very recently at that based on the fresh scent of fear she gave off.

Filia sat down a few feet away, and waited until the girl felt brave enough to make eye contact. Surprisingly, she did not have to wait long.

"I can see that you are not all right. I won't ask what happened, not yet. But I will ask you to let me help you."

The girl averted her eyes, and did not speak.

Filia patiently waited. The poor child could not be rushed.

After what seemed like minutes of silence, a meek voice came from the girl. "Why?"

Filia tilted her head. "I'm sorry? Why what?"

The girl took a deep breath and sat a bit straighter. "Why are you willing to help me? I'm no one."

Filia smiled, trying to bestow the calm she felt upon the younger girl. "Not true. You are a Golden Dragon. That alone makes you someone of importance."

She wasn't certain, but Filia could swear she heard the girl scoff. Filia waited a moment more to see if the girl would speak, but she kept silent, piercing Filia with a stare that seemed all seeing. It was almost unnerving. Filia decided to speak again to break the tension. "I am also a priestess of our Lord Vrabazard. It is my duty to help those in distress, and you, my dear, are most certainly in distress."

The girl sighed and looked down. "There is nothing you can do to assist me. I assure you that I am physically quite well. I would be a waste of your precious time Priestess."

Something about the beaten tone of her voice alarmed Filia far more than the previous sobs had. Filia could not stop the authoritative tone of her voice as she spoke to the girl, but she knew based on the robe the girl was wearing, that she was of the lesser castes that Filia normally never associated with… that Filia was never allowed to associate with. "Your lips suggest otherwise, and from what I can sense, your left shoulder has been dislocated, and the muscles of your left bicep have been torn. You also smell of fear, and a weird musk," here Filia took a deep sniff to try and place it, but couldn't as it was a smell she didn't recognize. "A musk that is not _yours_… but you are not well. And I will not leave you be until you allow me to help you in any way I can."

The girl's eyes narrowed as she snapped her head back to glare at Filia, and a slight snarl sounded in her young voice. "That strange musk you smell is that of an older male almost three times my age forcing his attentions upon me. I doubt even one such as _you_ can help me Priestess. _You_, like _me_, are only a _female_ when all is said and done, and what male would believe a female of _my_ station? Go away Priestess, and leave me in peace. I would rather my humiliation be as secret as possible, for the Supreme Elder would just use it as an excuse to pair me off with my attacker."

Filia's eyes widened at the powerful anger that welled within such a small child. "The Supreme Elder would _never_ force such a pairing. Let me speak on your behalf, I am sure-

The girl cried out in a wail, "You call that _assisting_ me?! Please, just go away! If you wish to help me, speak of this to no one, _especially_ the Supreme Elder. I cannot be mated to him! _I cannot_!" The girl suddenly dissolved into a fit of sobs, and Filia felt her heart ache at the pain in those sounds.

She moved closer to the girl, pulling the smaller child into her embrace. She shushed at her, and made as many soothing sounds as she could. The girl, unable to contain her grief any longer, turned into the comfort of Filia's shoulder and cried out her pain. When finally the sobs died down once more, she tried to push away from Filia. But Filia was stronger than she looked, and the girl was obviously very weak from fear, pain, stress and exhaustion.

The girl slumped even further into Filia's embrace once she realized that Filia would not release her. Filia could feel the vibrations of the mumble against her chest as the girl spoke. "I suppose you're serious about assisting me."

Filia smiled, stroking the girl's soft lustrous brown locks. They were such an unusual color for a Golden Dragon, and Filia, at least, thought they made the girl quite unique and a bit more attractive, than if she had been made a blonde like all the others. "I am. Come with me. I will heal your physical ailments, and I will do my best with the others. And I promise, I won't tell the Supreme Elder, if you really don't want me to." That last bit hurt Filia to the core. She didn't like keeping anything from the man who acted very much like her grandfather. She revered him, and for the first time in her life, she was not going to tell him something.

But it was such a small thing. He didn't need to know everything, did he?

"I really don't want you to."

Filia paused in her response, then firmly stated, "Then I won't tell. Priestess' honor."

The girl snorted and this time Filia knew for certain she heard it, for she felt it as well. Filia didn't understand why the girl didn't trust their Supreme Elder to provide for and protect her, but she had promised, and she wouldn't break that promise.

Not unless he ordered her to.

She just really hoped he wouldn't order her to.

Filia stood and helped the girl up as well. "Follow me. There is a shortcut to the Temple apartments down this way, and we likely won't run into anyone on the way there."

The girl sighed, but followed Filia despite her obvious misgivings. Filia glanced behind her, and noticed that the girl was a lot more alert, despite the grimace of pain on her face, and was looking more closely at their surroundings now that Filia was leading them through a smaller set of corridors. The presence of Filia and her magic helped to light the mage lights that ran down the small hall they were walking through, and the girl's eyes widened when she realized that the hall was human-sized. "Is this a servant's passage?"

Filia smiled and it carried through in her voice. "Yes. Back when our order was first established, the Supreme Elder made use of the lesser races to assist us in our duty to our God. But they live such short lives, that the Supreme Elder felt it was too much of a waste to continue retaining them, so we got rid of them and now rely on ourselves."

"I can see that not many use this passage. It's a bit dusty."

"No, I think I'm one of the only ones. It's a useful passage and allows me to get to places more quickly than others. My fellow priests think it beneath their dignity to use an old _servant's_ passage, but I've found it comes in handy when I'm in a hurry, or when I'm late to my studies, especially since I'm not allowed to teleport inside of the city."

"How odd."

Filia turned, her eyes wide. She had never been called odd before. "What do you mean?"

The girl stopped as well. "You. You're not like any of the other priestesses I've ever come into contact with."

Filia blushed. "I don't understand."

The girl smiled for the first time—it transformed her face into a thing of beauty. "You're nice, and you seem to genuinely care about my wellbeing. Plus, you're sensible—well, aside from your illogical but firm belief that the Supreme Elder was put on this world to solve all our problems. I think I could grow to like you." The girl regarded Filia a moment more before nodding, as if deciding something. "I'm Evanth."

Filia ducked her head, feeling a strange sense of pleasure from the fact that this girl had just given her her name. Only minutes before, the girl had wanted nothing to do with her. "I'm Filia."

Evanth's smile broadened. "Pleased to meet you Filia. Please, lead the way."

Filia blushed again and did exactly that.

It was odd the affect of Evanth's smile on Filia.

Filia had never had any friends. Sure she had many compeers in her fellow priests and priestesses of her age group. But they had somehow always shunned her, not on purpose, but because she was Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter—the only child of his that had inherited all of his magical ability, and had proven that she was _worthy_ of his name. They had all felt that they could in no way compare to her magical prowess. So instead of being friends with her, they had put her on a pedestal above them, happy knowing her, but never allowing her to join in their lesser games and pastimes. As such, Filia was extraordinarily lonely. Even with the attention the Supreme Elder always leavened upon her, she had no one she could really talk to.

Is that why she hadn't told Evanth her full name?

That she wanted a friend so dearly, she was willing to latch onto anyone who didn't know who she was. And Evanth clearly hadn't known who she was. What would Evanth do when she found out that the priestess who was so bent on helping her was none other than Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter? Filia suddenly hoped against hope that Evanth wouldn't find out until they were already friends. Evanth didn't seem like the type to abandon someone partway. At least Filia hoped she wasn't that type.

She was so very lonely.

And it was on that thought that Filia stopped. Not from the force of such a feeling, although that could be reason enough. No, it was more because she got hit with a vision—a powerful one, if the sensations wracking her body were anything to base it on.

Filia didn't get visions all that often; not many priestesses did anymore. It was something the older high priestesses bemoaned on occasion; that their God had forgotten them or abandoned them. Sadly, it seemed that Filia was likely one of the only priestesses who still got them regularly.

She was rather _devout_ in her meditations and prayers to her God after all.

Her ability to receive visions, she was told, was another reason she was considered a favorite of the Supreme Elder. As such, getting a vision, no matter the type was something to rejoice because it meant Lord Vrabazard had not turned his back on all of his followers.

And it wasn't just that she received visions that made Filia important. Understanding them was also very imperative and crucial. Visions were hard to comprehend on occasion. Sometimes they were powerful, and sometimes they weren't. Sometimes they told of the future, and sometimes they told of possible futures or outcomes. Sometimes they warned of consequences to possible actions, and sometimes they gave you exactly what you asked for, if you were praying for something, that is—at least that was what the texts had said. They almost always came on unexpectedly, unless you were specifically praying or meditating to receive one. You also had to interpret how your actions would affect them—like if you continued on your path, would it lead to what happened in the vision occurring, or if you changed what you did to bring on a different result, would that still bring on the same thing that happened in the vision?

Filia had on many occasions, dreamed her visions, and thinking them only dreams, never thought to warn anyone about them, which had had drastic repercussions among those she had dreamed about, including one death. When it had been discovered she had the gift of visions, along with her incredible magic power, she had immediately been trained in learning how to best decipher the images she received to make them understandable—and to make sure temple life continued smoothly. She, happily, had never received a vision about the end of the world, or the need to save it.

She wasn't sure what she'd do if one of those came about.

But this vision was _not_ one of those wimpy little predictions that she'd had on occasion. All those previous _visions_ were nothing compared to this. Truly, they weren't even visions! Just her precognitive ability to read situations and see final outcomes before they happened.

This was a True Vision sent from Lord Vrabazard Himself to his most devout worshipper, Priestess Filia Ul Copt!

It was the first True Vision any priestess had had in… she didn't know how long.

Filia would have been overjoyed to know that she was the first priestess that had been gifted with a True Vision from Lord Vrabazard, but she couldn't be. The agony the vision was causing upon her body and mind was stopping her elation at being the first in forever.

She'd had no idea that Lord Vrabazard's visions could be so excruciating.

This vision was torture!

It was fire burning through her veins and into her eyes, stopping her in her tracks!

Filia vaguely felt Evanth come to her aid as she cried out from the force of the vision, from the pain of it. It left her weak at the knees and she collapsed, unable to support herself from the pain and anger and frustration bearing down on her.

She had never once before felt as though she was about to melt behind the blazing fire and incandescent rage that burned through her body, and even as she tried to gasp for a fresh lungful of cool air, the very action caused even more agony to spread through her body until she felt as if she could no longer take it. She wanted to scream, but only a whisper escaped her hoarse and dry throat.

There was just so much anger, so much rage; her Lord Vrabazard was likely going to kill her with the powerful vision he was bestowing upon her.

Filia's sight clouded before burning red hot—then immediately going white hot for a moment before smoldering down so she could actually See what Lord Vrabazard wished to impart to her.

She Saw Evanth kneeling before the Supreme Elder and Elders, and Supreme Rage filled her upon Seeing those Blasphemous males. She was shocked by the Powerful Anger that radiated through her as she Looked at the gnarled old face of the Supreme Elder.

Filia Saw herself off to the side, her head bowed, but sadness was emanating from her emotionally broken form—and there was fury directed towards her as well, anger that she had been so stupid and naïve as to believe that the Treacherous Supreme Elder was really a nice old man at all.

Because she would have willingly done anything the Supreme Elder had asked of her, without thinking of the consequences to her actions, or even why he would ask.

Because she, a Priestess of _His_ Temple, didn't _think_ for herself.

The Poor Beautiful Evanth was shattered—His Treasure, His Gift to the world destroyed by the Odious males of His Temple—as she knelt on the floor of the Council Chambers. There was Burning Rage at the fact that His Treasure was so broken, and that His Disgusting male followers were Happily the cause of it.

Tears were streaming down His Lovely Evanth's face, but those tears were ignored by all the Horrible Hateful males in that room—the eyes of the Supreme Elder, the Elders, all the males of His Temple and in particular a Disgusting Offensive male Filia had seen only once or twice before, all seemed to say Evanth was as she should be, on her knees before them and a slave to their whims—His Precious Evanth was Greater than this, She was to be Treasured and Loved and Never to be Abused in such a Horrendous Manner.

The Blistering Fury Filia felt with this thought was painfully Seared into her very soul!

Filia just couldn't understand it. She could not understand why her God was so angry, with her or the Supreme Elder.

She had never done anything wrong in her life. She had always been so devoted to her prayers and her duties. She was never late, she had never shirked her work, and she spent extra time in the Devotional after everyone in the Temple left, so that she could spend that extra bit of time alone with her God. And here He was, Fervidly Furious! She had never known anyone in her entire life to be so enraged. And if she was Seeing correctly, His Insensate Fury was because of the very girl that she was going to be helping and was planning on becoming friends with.

The vision continued despite her incomprehension. And somehow the rage doubled when she once again Looked upon the Revolting male who was the cause of Evanth's distress.

This particular male with the loathsome eyes seemed to exude spiteful smugness, as he stared down upon His Evanth, his hand clutching her shoulder tightly as if to proclaim to the entire world that she was his; that she belonged to him forever. Filia was filled with a frenzy of emotions that were not her own, and anger that most definitely was, and both she and He reviled the way this Repulsive male was looking at her new friend and His Treasure. That look was filled with sadistic possession and malicious want.

Filia had never seen such a look from anyone before, and the way it made her skin crawl, she never wanted to.

There was a Hateful thought sent her way. The pain from the Blistering Power of His Voice in her mind was somehow even greater than the pain from the vision He sent her. _You will _never_ see such a look, unless you disobey your _precious_ Supreme Elder, because the Blasphemous males of My Temple know better than to treat what they _think_ is a prize in such an abhorrent way. If they knew that My Evanth was the True Prize in all of this, My Evanth would have been showered with love like you were—and instead My Evanth is treated like scum and eventually will be raped over and over again because they don't know that _I_ Favor her and only her above all others. Only My Evanth is a proper follower. Not even you, the _devout Priestess Filia_ with the ability to receive My _Precious_ Visions, _and here Filia felt the words practically sneered in her mind_, are a proper follower. You follow his words as gospel, and not Mine. You are not worthy of My time, attention or effort. Only My Evanth is, and _she_ is the only reason I have graced you with a True Vision at all._

Filia knew instantly, through this unbearable vision Her God was Showing her, that this was the repugnant male who had violated and injured her new friend. And she knew that this foul male would do far worse once Evanth was entirely in his clutches. And some instinctual part of her wanted to rip his throat out with her teeth and talons—though she wasn't entirely certain if it was all her. She could feel her God wanting to tear through her to get to the Vile male who would dare harm His Precious Evanth. She was almost shocked out of the vision by such a feeling of Abhorrence and Hate from her God for this Revolting male Golden Dragon, even though she too was beginning to detest this male as well.

Nonetheless, the vision continued despite her fury, despite His Fiery Rage, despite the pain that continued to radiate through her body. The male Golden Dragon haughtily admitted to defiling Evanth, to harming her.

How Dare That Filthy Bastard Be So Damned Smug About It?!

Filia was surprised to realize that thought was all hers, and not her God's…

The Horrendous male's excuse was that Evanth was constantly teasing him while he had her mother, and that he could no longer stop himself from acting—that he had to teach her to have some respect for her elders, and that she shouldn't tease an older male dragon who just happened to be unmated. Despite the hostility Filia Felt through her God towards the Supreme Elder, Filia was certain that the Supreme Elder, and the other Elders, didn't quite believe this Insidious male. None of the males in the Council Room, watching the proceedings believed such Blatant Lies.

Filia could even see it on their faces, and felt herself relax despite the extra pain spiking in her mind, knowing that they would see reason and would punish this Repulsive male for his deceit.

There was a Vicious Snarl that resounded in her mind at her forgiving thoughts toward the Elders.

There was a murmur around the room from all the males before the Supreme Elder spoke up after having conferred with the Elders.

The accusation _was_ valid.

Wait?

What?

Valid?!

Filia wanted to cry out, to scream, to rail against such a foolish ruling, but her double in the vision only seemed to cry harder at this instead of fighting for her friend.

She felt such incredible anger at herself for this, and this anger was hers, not her God's.

The Voice that pierced through her mind was even more painful as the umbrage He felt for her swept through her mind. _Weakling. You are such a pitiful and pathetic _weakling_! You can't even stand up for what you know is right! It sickens Me to have to send this vision through you, the progeny of that _Rapist Bastard_ you call a father. You all _disgust_ Me!_

As such, since the accusation couldn't truly be disproved—_they don't want to disprove it, as that would make a female correct and those Little Shits can't have that_—and it was well known how the lesser females tended to act around unmated males of higher stature, the Supreme Elder would allow the mating of the young female to the older male to make sure other young females of the low castes were kept in line, and wouldn't try the same thing or suffer the same fate.

_I never once Commanded the Rape and Enslavement of My female followers. That _Usurper_ has been using My name in vain to carry out his own plots for almost a millennia._

In the vision, Evanth cried out at the ruling with such anguish—here Filia felt true sorrow as she Looked at Evanth, sorrow that was hers and His—and instead of looking at Filia's double in the vision, Evanth stared straight into Filia's eyes and her soul, as if to say, 'You're the one who did this to me. I'm to be mated to this repugnant male because of you.'

The accusation in Evanth's eyes hurt. But what happened next hurt far worse.

Filia could See the entire Temple and City of the Fire Dragon King and all of its inhabitants swallowed up in a great Gout of Flame. Everything and Everyone in the Temple was burned so that nothing remained. Filia could feel the heat and the pain of the incineration as her body burned until nothing remained but her soul, and even that burned.

Her God was that Pissed Off.

The words that followed from her Lord, unfortunately, hurt worse than her incineration.

_My Treasure is right. _You_ are the reason she'll be mated to that Little Ass. And if she is, if you allow it, you'll wish your life ended with this vision. In all of your temple, My Precious Evanth is the only one I care about. The rest of you can burn in My Fires for all I care. And I will use the last of My powers to burn you all to death if I must. _

_Never forget that, daughter of High Priestess Sedava. The rest of you mean nothing to Me. Not after what you have done to your own kind, to others like your kind, to the Gift I gave so freely. Stoke My ire, My fire, and I'll give it back one Hundred Fold, even if it kills Me—I don't care, as long as I take all of you with Me. Mother will be pleased with that at least because then She will have Her Talisman back. _

With that, the burning of her body stopped, and the true pain with it stopped as well. Filia felt drained of all her energy, all of her magic, all of her extra fluids and all of her faith in the world around her.

How could this young slip of a girl be so important, especially to their God?

Filia knew for certain that she could feel no magical energy from the girl, so what made her His Treasure? What did she do that was so different? She was a nobody—just a low caste underage female. Did Evanth pray to Lord Vrabazard differently? Was she more devout than even Filia thought she was? Filia tried to understand what it was about Evanth that was so special, but the only thing she could come up with was that Evanth disliked the Supreme Elder and didn't trust him.

Evanth hovered near her, concern etched in her features, as she looked Filia over. Filia couldn't stop herself from flinching away from Evanth as the girl reached out a hand to touch her forehead. Filia was ashamed of herself, but she was actually slightly afraid of the girl.

"You're burning up." Filia looked away into the darkness of the hall, not wanting Evanth to see her fear. Evanth continued despite this. "First you cried out in pain and collapsed and then all the mage lights caught on fire and burned like the fiery pits of the nine hells. Now they're all out. What was that? What happened?"

"I… don't know." Filia shook her head weakly, not sure if she should tell Evanth about the vision. It was obvious from Evanth's reactions that she hadn't even felt the change in the magic of the room, or that their God had practically manifested in Filia's mind.

Part of Filia wondered at that. How could the girl not even know what had happened?

Had anyone else been around, they would have known immediately that Filia was having a True Vision from their God. The blinding heat, the mage lights, the fact that Filia was drained afterwards.

Maybe Evanth had caused it? Perhaps to ensure that Filia would be more likely to support her should any disgusting male try and violate her again? Maybe to make sure that Filia would stand up with her against the blasphemous Supreme Elder should he try to force Evanth into something she didn't want to do?

No, that couldn't be right.

Evanth didn't have the power to conjure an illusion upon Filia that was that realistic, that painful. And the mage lights would be back to life if it had been an illusion, but because Filia's magic was drained, they were dead. And why would Evanth do that to her when, if she actually had the power to do so, she could do that to anyone, including the male who had defiled her.

No, Evanth didn't have that sort of power; otherwise Filia would have been able to sense it.

Which meant the vision was the real thing.

And her God was enormously pissed at all of them. Pissed enough to burn them all if His Evanth suffered again under the male that tried to defile her earlier today.

But how could she keep that from happening? Filia didn't think she could tell anyone about the vision.

Who would believe her? Who would want to believe her?

If she had been told her God was angry with her, she wouldn't have believed it. Telling the Supreme Elder… Filia shuddered with certainty. If she told him, she knew, just Knew, that not only would he not believe her, he would also likely punish her. And sheltered though she was, she had heard the rumors like everyone else. She may have been his pride and joy, but how quickly could that change if she ever upset him?

She closed her eyes in distress, and the images of the vision danced in her retinas, burned there by her God and His Fury. It would be a while before those images would clear. He wanted her to See them every time she closed her eyes, and she wasn't sure how long they would stay imprinted in her Sight.

An echo resounded in Filia's mind, one that burned, but not as badly as before. It was the same rage, the same anger, but it was not as potent as before, as if it were farther away… or weaker, as if her God had used up a lot of His energy in giving her the vision in the first place. _As long as it takes for you to realize to whom you have wrongly given your fealty to. I Am Your God. No one else but Me has the right to command you, and you have been ignoring Me in favor of that Blasphemous male who thinks he rules over My Temple._

But that meant that the man that she had loved all her life long was not the good man she believed him to be.

She wanted to deny it with all her strength. For five hundred years she had looked up to the Supreme Elder, sitting in his lap as he played with her as a child. Sitting in his lap as they read out of the same nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Sitting by his side as she began her magical training. He was so much closer to her than she was to her own father, it was hard to look at him and not feel love.

And her own Father…

Her God had called her daughter of High Priestess Sedava, not daughter of Bazard Ul Copt—whom He had referred to as a rapist instead. Filia could admit, even to herself, that Lord Bazard Ul Copt was a hard man. He was that way with everyone, but he always seemed to be harsher with her. She had always just accepted it as the way he was, that he had trouble connecting with a hatchling. Had accepted that such a powerful male had duties more important than paying attention to his emotionally starved child. She had learned to accept the austerity of his bearing, and still loved him despite his reticence of being around her. He was her father after all. And the Supreme Elder gave her all the familial love that she had needed as a child, that her father had been so unwilling to give her.

Filia clutched her chest tightly, wanting to cry. Her entire world had just been shattered. Everything she had ever known was crumbling down around her. But she couldn't believe it. That would mean that her father and the Supreme Elder truly were in the wrong. And everything she had been taught was also wrong.

But that couldn't be so, could it? Her five hundred years of life could not have all been a lie, could it have?

There was no answer, not even in the form of the burning rage of her God. She closed her eyes once more, not able to shed the tears she so wanted as even her tear ducts were dry.

And those images once again danced along her vision.

Filia knew that Evanth still knelt beside her, the worry increasing on her brow, but Filia could not force herself to get up. Her God had hit her with too much at once, and it was just so much to process.

She couldn't believe that the man who was so grandfatherly to her would be so indifferent to someone else. She had to be imagining some of it.

Surely her beloved Supreme Elder would not condemn a child to… rape?

But Evanth's earlier absolute vehemence that the Supreme Elder would mate her to her attacker was enough to give Filia some doubt as to whether or not he would do so. And those images, they wouldn't leave her. There had to be truth there. Why would her God lie to her? He had no reason to.

Gods did not lie to Their followers.

Rulers lied to their followers.

Which meant her beloved Supreme Elder was lying to her.

It could not be so. But she knew it was. She just did not want to believe it.

She knew the Supreme Elder wouldn't dare lie to her, and he would never force her to mate a rapist. Filia knew how important she was, and that any male who dared attempt something so monumentally brainless would find himself quickly castrated. But even her God had said that the males all believed she was a prize, as if she actually wasn't at all. But Evanth…

Lord Vrabazard had called His Evanth the true prize. That the males of His Temple were just too stupid, too blind to see her for what she was.

But Filia still couldn't see what made Evanth so special.

What made Evanth a gift, a treasure, the True Prize of Lord Vrabazard? And Evanth was very important to Lord Vrabazard—that much was very clear.

Filia just wasn't sure how.

She didn't want to believe it.

Filia _couldn't_ believe it.

But she also wouldn't chance angering her God. She had already angered Him just by following her Supreme Elder so blindly. She could remember the pain He had bestowed upon her body as He Showed her His Wrath for her people, His people. She knew He would be willing to burn them all to cinders to protect His Treasure.

That meant that she had to act. She had to protect His Treasure.

From the male that had defiled Evanth. From the Supreme Elder and Elders. From the Priests and Healers. From all the males of the Temple if she had to.

She would hide what happened to Evanth, and no one would have to know. And then she wouldn't have to find out for sure if her Supreme Elder was just as heartless as the vision, as her God implied. She didn't want to know if that was true. She couldn't believe that it was.

Filia could at least tell from the vision that the Supreme Elder despised the male.

That in itself was comforting.

But the rest…

Maybe he just made that ruling because he was required to, because he couldn't be soft on anyone. If a female, any female, but especially a low caste female, did step out of line after all, there were severe consequences to her actions. And there wasn't enough proof from Evanth to disprove what that older male had said against her—even though through the vision Filia knew that what he said was fallacious.

If Filia looked at it objectively enough and not as a friend to Evanth, or from having Seen the vision, she supposed she'd have to rule the same way.

Also, if Evanth was found violated past the point of redemption, and they would check, the girl would be mated to the male, whether it was her fault or not—because an unmated female who had experienced sex would be much harder to contain.

She wasn't sure why this was, but Filia had heard the stories about some of the females that this had happened to. They typically went wild and were a detriment to their society. It was one of the reasons she remained chaste. Besides, it was just safer for all the Golden Dragons if the females were contained, especially females from the lower castes since they weren't raised with the knowledge of what could happen to them after they did the unthinkable.

It was why a number of the males kept the unmated non-breeding females so close, to keep them under close supervision.

And Evanth _was_ from one of the lowest castes in their race. She wasn't casteless, as she was still technically useful, but she was not considered very important. Filia knew that the girl's very purpose was to be used by the males as a potential breeder, as all the low caste females were expected to become—even Filia herself was expected to become a breeder when she came of age—though it was not exactly something Filia spent a lot of time thinking about, and not in those terms. Why would she? She knew what was expected of her and she had accepted it. Plus she knew that a male of proper breeding would be chosen for her; her father and the Supreme Elder would make sure he treated her right, so she didn't even have to worry about that.

But Evanth did not have the same luxuries that Filia had. And Filia knew that when push came to shove, Evanth would be given to the male who had harmed her, if Filia accidentally gave Evanth away—and Filia _would_ lose the first ever friend she might have ever have made.

But more importantly than that, Lord Vrabazard would then burn them all to death.

And she could not allow that to happen, even if now she wasn't sure if that wasn't such a bad idea after all if what Lord Vrabazard had said was true…

So in order to keep her friend, and all their lives, until she could be sure just what was going on in the Temple, she would just have to keep all eyes off of Evanth. That meant going about leading Evanth to her apartments a little bit differently than she would have normally done.

Evanth tried to help Filia as she finally got up, but Filia could see the pain on Evanth's face as she extended her arms to help, and Filia—even as weak as she was—waved Evanth off. She would not cause Lord Vrabazard's Treasure any more pain than she had to.

Filia could sense a number of her fellow priests—through their magic—out in the corridor, though she hoped they would be far too occupied to sense her… and her guest, especially since neither girl was producing any magic.

Even though she used this passage often and they knew she did, it would not do for them to notice another girl following her out of it. Especially since the girl was obviously a lesser female based on her threadbare robes, and as such, a female who did not belong in the much more lavish temple apartments kept only for the priests of their order.

She now knew she was taking a great risk bringing the girl to her apartments, but she could not treat Evanth elsewhere, and it would have been an even greater risk had Filia been seen outside of the Temple Proper.

Even Filia knew there were just some places she should not be seen in, and outside of the Temple Proper was one of them. At least not while she had a young female in her charge who had most obviously been violated, based on the now dried stain on the belly of her robes. Any dragon who had the sense to pay any attention to their surroundings beyond their own personal sphere, would notice that stain on the girl's robes, take note of the musk, and memorize the girl's features for later questioning.

In a way, Filia knew she should not have stopped to help the girl; that technically Evanth was not worth all this trouble—though if the girl was Lord Vrabazard's Treasure, she was worth this trouble and so much more. That she should have just left Evanth to her silent misery, and her potential fate, no matter what it may have been. But a part of Filia rebelled at that—she wasn't sure which part—and she could no more leave the girl alone than she could have walked past a statue of Lord Vrabazard and not genuflected. And now that she knew a little bit more about her God, she was extremely glad she had naturally been inclined to help the poor girl out—especially knowing the measures her God was willing to go to to protect His Gift.

And Filia was not about to let anyone find out that she was bringing the girl to her rooms, or why she was. She'd have to keep this occurrence a secret as long as possible, that way no one would ask why she was suddenly bringing a girl of the lower castes to her rooms—because this was _not_ going to be a one-time thing. Evanth was her new friend, whether she knew it or not, and Filia would protect that friendship, and the girl, as best she could.

Though it truly did pain her to keep such a secret from the Supreme Elder—even knowing how her God felt about the man, even if she didn't truly know why He felt that way, she still loved him—Filia still felt she had some rights to her own secrets, especially considering the alternative. The Supreme Elder didn't know everything about her, at least not her inner thoughts. And he didn't need to know. Well, not unless he asked. But if she kept her activities clandestine enough, he wouldn't know to ask, now would he? And he'd never have to find out about Evanth, or how they became friends.

He couldn't begrudge her _some_ friends, could he?

When she felt all the priests in the corridor had continued on their merry way so they wouldn't see either her or Evanth exiting, Filia opened the door to the servant's passage and walked onward, her head held high, her nose in the air. A quick glance behind showed that Evanth was shuffling behind her, doing an incredible imitation of a servant or acolyte following her priestess. Filia didn't let her expression of surprise show on her face, but she was impressed with Evanth's ability to camouflage her actions enough so that none of the priests walking by took any notice of her.

As far as they were concerned, Evanth didn't exist, especially in the wake of someone as important as Lady Filia Ul Copt. A number of the priests nodded their heads at Filia, for ignoring a female dragon of her prestige, even if she was younger or lower in rank than they, was unheard of, especially if they wanted to be taken into consideration when it came time for her to be mated.

After what seemed an interminable walk, Filia and Evanth finally made it to Filia's apartments. Filia opened the door and allowed Evanth to walk in first. Filia quickly glanced around in the hall, noticed no one was around, and walked in after Evanth, shutting the door behind her, then leaned against it and breathed a sigh of relief. She was finally home, where she could relax without having to be absolutely prim and proper to impress future mates. Plus, she was still exhausted from the vision, though through the walk she had very slowly regained some of her strength.

She smiled at the girl who was staring wide-eyed at all of Filia's furnishings. The large room was done in a variety of pinks and yellows and creams, all pastels, all the furnishings matching in one way or another. She loved her living room. It was bright and cheery without being too overwhelming.

"This is your room?"

Filia nodded and decided to ignore the heat of her body, and the pain that was beginning to creep down her veins once again. "Yes, well, one of them. As a priestess of the temple, I am allotted a larger set of rooms than most of the rest of Golden Dragons." That wasn't entirely true. As a priestess and Lord Bazard Ul Copt's daughter—and the Supreme Elder's Favorite—she was allotted the number of rooms that a High Priestess would have had. When she was mated and became an actual High Priestess in name, she would be allowed an even larger lair so she would have space to mate and eventually nest. But Evanth didn't need to know that.

"It's huge though. I could fit our lair in this room alone, and have extra space after."

Filia sat down in one of the ivory colored divans and indicated that Evanth do the same. "Is it really that small?"

"Yeah. My mama and I are pretty low in terms of status. She cleans the homes of some of the males, and I'll be expected to do the same if I don't become a breeder. Which means we don't get much." Evanth sighed as she took a rather comfy looking pale pink divan against one of the walls. It was just as lush as it looked. She thought she might sink to the ground if she put too much weight on it, but it supported her completely.

The priestly caste really did live better lives. She wondered, briefly, if her lot in life would improve if she became a scribe. She dashed that hope though. After what that male had done to her, and what he likely was planning on doing, she'd be stuck as a breeder—his breeder.

How was she to fight against something like that, someone like that?

Filia noticed the suddenly dark expression come over her new friend, and was more determined than ever to make things okay for her; at least, as well as she could. "Let's get you out of those clothes. I'm sure you don't want to be smelling him on you any more than you have to."

"But what will I wear?"

"I have some old clothes that you can wear. I only just recently hit majority, so my… my father changed my design and allowed me to 'grow up'. I still haven't gotten rid of all of my old outfits because something always told me that I'd need them. And being a priestess with the… the gift of visions, you learn to listen to things like that. It turns out they were right, at least in this case." Filia couldn't believe how many times she stumbled over her words. She was usually so much more confident than that. That Vision had really shaken it.

Filia stood up and offered her hand to Evanth who, despite the somber mood, looked like she didn't want to leave the comfort of the divan. Evanth sighed again, before she grabbed Filia's hand and stood as well, allowing Filia to lead her through her apartments.

To Evanth's dismay, the apartments spanned five large rooms in total, not including the bathing area, which was technically adjoined to the bedroom. What did a single lone priestess need with all this space? Filia seemed to read Evanth's looks quite well and spoke before Evanth had the chance to ask.

"That first room is where I eat and entertain any visitors I may have. Though usually only my father or the Supreme Elder come and visit. I have another room for me to sleep in. One of the rooms is my library for my history books and spellbooks, of which I have many. My smallest room is for my meditations when I am away from the Temple Proper. And the last room is where I keep my hoard."

Evanth stopped in her tracks. "You actually have a _hoard_?"

Filia blushed at the incredulity in Evanth's voice. "My father always said a proper dragoness should have a proper hoard." Filia meekly opened the door to that particular room, embarrassed but pleased to be showing someone the large collection that she was very proud of.

It did not contain what Evanth would have thought of as a hoard, like piles of gold and jewels and various treasure—none of which she had actually ever seen, though she was dying to know what they looked like. Instead it had walls full of shelves and all the shelves were full of jars, and a number of tea sets. These were all high quality jars, and some of them were very pretty jars, there were even some jars with sparkly jewels encrusted on them. But all of the jars were empty, which in Evanth's eyes ruined the whole point of having a jar.

You were supposed to put stuff in them, not just look at them.

But then again, Evanth didn't even have a hoard. Or at least not what normal dragons would have considered a hoard. She collected feathers. She had multiples of some, but she just loved feathers; the feel of them under her fingertips, the lightness of their weight, the different variations of color, and the striations of patterns. They spoke of a freedom she could never know, so she collected as many as she could—even taking down birds of prey on the wing, just so she could add to her collection, just so she could feel one more moment of being free. But she had never once thought of it as a hoard, just a collection.

As she looked around at Filia's collection, she nodded. She supposed it could be considered a hoard. Much more than hers could, anyway.

"So… You have a thing for jars?"

Filia blushed. "Yeah. It started out simple enough really. I had this tea set that I really loved as a small child. It was my mother's. And I started asking my father for more and more as I grew up. And then one day I just saw this really pretty jar. And that was the end of it."

"Shouldn't you use the jars?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, jars were created to put stuff in them. They're purposeless when they're empty."

"But they're pretty."

"True. But, I don't know, couldn't you put gold and jewels in them, and make they pretty _and_ useful."

"Oh no! I couldn't do that! It would ruin the glazing on the inside. To remain in perfect condition and therefore be worth more, they must remain untouched, both inside and out."

Evanth looked at Filia and then shrugged. It still seemed like such a waste. "To each their own, I guess. I… I collect feathers." At Filia's wide-eyed glance, Evanth continued stubbornly. "They don't cost anything, and they can be really pretty. Since Mama is casteless, we only get food. Sometimes we get clothes and things for our lair, but it's always just worn down or broken. We make do. But feathers… Feathers are free. And no one thinks to take them from me because to them, feathers are worthless."

Filia just nodded in response, not sure of what to say to such depressing information—she hadn't known the casteless had it that bad—and then closed the door to her hoard. She then motioned for Evanth to follow her towards her bedroom, which was even larger than the main room. The mage lights in the room came to life immediately once Filia walked in and Evanth suddenly noticed that this was the only room in Filia's apartment that was without a window, which explained the need for the mage lights.

"Pretty nifty." She was impressed.

Filia smiled. "I got the idea from the servant's passage. The mage lights in those halls remain dormant until someone with magic walks inside. The stronger one's magic the stronger the light, and if there are a number of weak magical beings, their magic power combines to affect the mage lights. I changed the spell on mine just a tiny bit so it'll only react to my magic and my consciousness. If I'm awake, the lights will be strong, but when I start drifting off to sleep, they'll begin to dim, and when I'm fully asleep, they'll be completely out. That way if I need to sleep for a long while, I'll be undisturbed."

"But what if you have to wake up early?"

"Over the years I've trained my body to wake up at a certain time every morning. And if I'm needed earlier, there are always messengers or acolytes to get me."

Evanth just shook her head. The priestly caste really did live different lives. "We have to use candles and oil. Mama can caste the spell for a magic light, but it drains her of too much of her energy. And I don't have any magical talent to me whatsoever."

"Is that why neither of you are acolytes?"

"Yeah. Mama was supposed to be a breeder, but the clutch I'm from didn't survive the hatching. Only I did. And everyone says the only reason I did was because of my lack in magical ability. Since she's so weak, she was… fixed early on. I'm her only surviving child. I think that broke her up the worst. She was highly desired until most of the clutch died. Now… She's nothing but a servant."

Filia nodded. She knew what Evanth meant. Her mother was an unmated female. Even though she was fixed, her hormones could rage at any moment, and so she had to be kept under constant supervision by a number of different males.

"Let's… let's get you that bath. Then I'll start on healing your arm."

Evanth followed Filia into the bathing room, and was once again astonished. The room was easily the size of the bedroom. And the bath! It took up almost the entire room! It was literally large enough for an adult female dragon in dragon form to use and still be comfortable—it was possibly large enough for the even larger male dragons. It was a mixture of stone and wood and tile, and just looked heavenly. Her dragonhide began to itch just thinking of all those sharp rocks jutting out that she could use to scratch herself on. She didn't get to bathe very often in dragon form, as there wasn't any room in her home to do so, and plus, she wasn't allowed to be in dragon form unless she was outside and flying. There were a number of pens outside that the females could bathe in, but the males would be there, watching from above. And bathing was just such a private and personal experience that Evanth couldn't bear to have the males watch her. So she always did sponge baths in the privacy of her home and only in her room, with the small copper basin that was used for that purpose.

Filia pulled a cord along the rock wall, which opened a side panel in the same wall. Within moments boiling hot water came cascading out of the opening and pouring into the stone basin that was the tub. In no time, the tub was full and Filia pulled that same cord, which closed the hole in the wall and stopped the water. There were a number of jars lining the tile wall, and Evanth had to stop herself from opening them just to see if anything was inside of them—she was a guest in someone's home after all, and it just wouldn't do to start poking around. Filia then began pulling off Evanth's clothing, much to Evanth's embarrassment and consternation. When she got to Evanth's left arm, she became extremely gentle, especially when Evanth whined in pain.

"I'm sorry Evanth."

"I can get undressed myself."

"Not with that arm. I don't want you to use it more than you have to, you might hurt it worse."

Evanth whined again, but allowed Filia to continue undressing her. She was not used to being naked in front of anyone, even her mama. It was moments before her robe, her dress, and her shift and bloomers were on the floor. Filia tsked at the bruises she saw covering Evanth's stomach and arms. Luckily, from what Filia could see, there was no blood at the juncture of Evanth's thighs, which meant that filthy male had not completely violated the girl. She breathed an internal sigh of relief—she would not have to report this to the Supreme Elder at all now, and could now completely keep Evanth's secret without any worries of the girl going hormone crazy. All she had to do was get that vile male's scent off of Evanth, and she had enough bath salts and unguents for that, and then heal her physically and no one would really know that anything had happened.

Once completely naked, Evanth stepped into the bath, fully immersing herself under the hot water. When she came up for air, the heat of the water had barely given her a flush to her cheeks. Dragons were used to the heat, and loved to revel in it when they could. They had originally spent much of their time in hot springs high on the mountains, and the boiling water just barely came close to that sort of heat.

"Oh Flarelord, this is so much better than a cold sponge bath!"

"Sponge baths?"

"Yeah, you know, with a small copper basin and a sea sponge. That's how a lot of the rest of us wash."

"You mean all you get are sponge baths? What about when you need to clean your dragon form? You can't clean yourself with a sponge when you're in your dragon form."

Evanth blushed. "I don't."

"But why not? Surely your skin must get all flaky and dry. You have to sand and buff that out when it gets really bad, and you should never let it get that bad."

"Our rooms are too small, and I'm not allowed to be in dragon form unless I'm outside. And when I'm outside in my dragon form, I'm constantly being watched by a lot of the male warrior dragons, so that I don't try to escape. You have no idea what it's like to try and bathe when you're under constant supervision by at least five or six male dragons."

Filia shook her head. "But why would you want to escape?"

Evanth glared at Filia, then gestured with her right hand towards her stomach and left arm.

Filia gulped. "Oh. I suppose that would be a good enough reason. But surely not all of our citizens treat you in such a way. I mean, that piece of garbage has to be just one type of male, and surely there aren't that many of them there."

Evanth sighed. Poor deluded Filia just did not get it. But she was a priestess, treated well likely since she was a hatchling. What would she know about the truth of things? But was it truly Evanth's job to try and whip some of that naivety out of the young woman? She wasn't sure she was up to the task, especially since this was likely only a one-time occurrence between the two and they'd likely never meet again—or be allowed to meet again. "I'm sorry Filia. I'd just rather not talk about it. I doubt you'd believe me anyway. And it is rather depressing once I think about all the things my mama and I have suffered, especially since it seems to be so different from your life."

Filia wanted to pout—she was barely scratching the surface layer of young Evanth, and she wanted to know more about the girl to know why Lord Vrabazard favored her so—but she dare not. "Oh. Okay. I'm sorry for trying to pry. I just… I just don't understand I guess. But you can shift into your dragon form here. No one will come in. I can even assist you with cleaning all the hard-to-reach places."

Evanth shook her head almost violently. "I can't. They'll know."

"Who'll know?"

Evanth's eyes were wide. Was Filia really not under constant supervision as well? "The Elders."

Filia waved her hand in negation. "They'll probably just think it's me. I do it all the time. A proper dragoness must maintain cleanliness in both forms after all."

Evanth's eyes remained wide. She knew that each dragon had a different magic signature when changing from her human form to her dragon form. She could feel it when each female she flew with in the afternoons shifted from one form to the other. It _felt_ different for each girl, and she knew the Elders would notice that she had changed into her dragon form in Filia's lair—especially if they kept an eye on such things in the city, which she knew they did. "I'm no proper dragoness. And they'll find out. They'll come in. I must not do any such thing."

Filia frowned, the stubborn bone in her body wanting to argue with Evanth, but as she looked her friend over, she realized that Evanth was truly frightened of being caught—and she wasn't about to pressure her friend into doing something she was afraid to do. She might lose her friend for sure if she did something like that. "All right. If you feel that way, I won't push you. But you must do a proper cleansing on your human form while you're here. I won't hear of anything less. And I'll help you since that shoulder of yours must be killing you."

Evanth sighed in agreement. Her left shoulder was really throbbing, and the heat of the bath, though relaxing to the rest of her body, was making her arms, stomach and shoulder hurt increasingly worse. She wasn't sure she could properly clean herself while in such pain. And she knew that the adrenaline from her earlier experiences that day was mostly gone now because she was feeling the pain more acutely than before.

Filia quickly disrobed herself, before tying her long pale blonde hair into a knot at the nape of her neck, before joining Evanth in the bath. She gathered some of her body cleansing supplies, and began cleaning Evanth with a vigor Evanth had not experienced since her mama had last washed her as a young dragonette. Filia was extremely gentle around Evanth's injuries, but she obviously believed the idiom that cleanliness was next to godliness, and Evanth got the scrubbing of her life under Filia's ministrations. She wondered briefly what Filia would have been like if she had agreed to shift into her dragon form.

By the time Filia felt Evanth passed for clean, Evanth's skin felt like it had been scrubbed raw, and it was red enough to prove it. But Filia had also used a number of her unguents hidden in those pretty bath jars, and Evanth could no longer smell that terrible male's scent on her. Filia got out of the bath first, wrapping a towel about her body before helping Evanth out as well. The towels that were wrapped around her hair and body were so soft and luxurious that Evanth knew she'd sell whatever part of her body she could just to experience those towels after every bath she had.

"How's your pain level, on a scale of zero to ten?" Filia asked as she walked back into her bedroom.

Evanth grimaced as she followed the young woman. "About an eight for my shoulder, seven for my left arm, six for my stomach and five for my right arm."

"Okay, I'm going to cast a minor healing spell on your left arm so I can work your left arm back into your shoulder without tearing the muscle even further. Once I cast the spell, I'm going to need you to lie down on the bed. I have to warn you that the second part is really going to hurt a lot."

Evanth sighed and nodded, then sat down on Filia's bed figuring that it was the best place to be since she would be laying down on it afterwards.

Filia, still wrapped in her towel stood before Evanth and began chanting a basic healing spell. It would lesson the pain in Evanth's arm, but it wouldn't force the torn muscles back into place. She could do that once she had set Evanth's shoulder, and she would complete the job with an all around healing spell on Evanth. It was a lot more complicated than what Lord Devorit might have done, and it might likely be a lot more painful for Evanth, but it was also a lot more private. She didn't want to bring Evanth to any of the healers, as they would ask what had happened to her.

And she didn't want Lord Devorit to know because… well, Lord Devorit just sort of rubbed Filia the wrong way.

Sure he was incredible with his healing gifts… but there was just something off about him. She didn't know what it was, and she had never had a vis- any foresight about him telling her what was wrong with him, so it obviously wasn't that important. She supposed that she just didn't like him, but she could never figure out why.

As such, she wasn't about to bring her new friend to him for help.

"How's that?" Filia asked when she finished her spell. She was surprised with how easily it had come to her, especially after being so drained from that terrible vision, but perhaps that bath had done her some good as well.

"A little better. But it seems like it just makes my shoulder hurt worse."

"I'm sorry, but it's going to hurt even worse before I can actually completely heal you. Are you ready?"

Evanth took a deep breath before laying down at the edge of Filia's incredibly comfortable bed. "I suppose so."

Filia grabbed Evanth's arm, her grip gentle at first, but as she started working Evanth's arm in a slow rotation, that grip became much stronger. Evanth gasped at first, as the pain increased, but Filia did not stop. She couldn't stop, despite the immense pain this was putting her new friend through. Once the shoulder was popped back in place, the pain would diminish and quickly, but until then, this _had_ to be done. Even if her healing spells were not what they could be, Filia had still paid a great deal of attention in her classes and had learned quite a bit. She and Evanth would have no need to get a healer of higher talents than she.

Unfortunately, Evanth's pain was only increasing, and Filia could guess why. The muscle around her shoulder was likely spasming because Filia had not healed Evanth's shoulder sooner. Evanth began crying out to release some of the built up tension. Filia felt for her, but continued to rotate the girl's arm. She could tell she was getting closer to her goal as the rotating of the arm was becoming a little easier, despite Evanth's screaming. Just a little more.

Right as the arm popped back into place, Evanth passed out from the pain. Filia gently wiped the sweat from Evanth's brow, feeling sorry that she had been the cause of such great pain for her friend, but happy that she could help her in this at least.

If she hadn't helped Evanth, Evanth would have had to go to a healer and they would have wanted to know how she had gotten hurt. And despite the stress from earlier, they would have grilled her mercilessly to find out. And then she would have been in pain again as they healed her because they would not have been gentle about it since she was from a low caste, and then she likely would have been taken before the Elders to be mated to that vile male.

And then the Temple and all of its inhabitants would have been cremated in the Flame that was the last vestiges of their Lord's power.

No, as painful as this may be for Evanth, it made sure they all survived.

Filia also knew that this way was the gentlest way possible for her friend because she was at least considerate to Evanth's need for a break. She knew that healing spells never gave immediate relief, as they had to fix the problem first before the pain could diminish, so she allowed Evanth a moment to rest while she finally got dressed. That would be enough time before she finally began the rest of her treatment, and the pain started up again, for however short a period it would last. It would be over for poor Evanth soon enough.

Filia grabbed her evening loungewear, and began pulling it on. Once completely dressed, she dug into the lower drawers of her bureau in an attempt to find some clothing for Evanth when she was finally awake and aware.

xxxx

Devorit Ni Rathard had been walking the lonely halls of the Temple Proper for some time. It was something he usually always did before he traveled the distance required to get to his apartments for the evening meal. He did it to clear his rather chaotic mind, and all the walking helped a little. He knew he could have just teleported to his room without the need to walk, but that was the lazy way that most of the males of the temple took, and he hated being lazy. Plus, he liked the extra exercise all the walking gave him.

His human form was perfect, healthy and strong, and his dragon form even more so—and he liked to keep it that way—because he took every chance he could to exercise and keep in shape. Both his forms were even considered very attractive by a large number of the females of his race—and a great many of them wished he would mate with them. But he ignored them.

None of them were worthy of him, his power, or his bloodline.

It may have been a conceited thought, but only if it weren't true. He was rare among the Golden Dragons for his healing gifts were not common even before the mass of deaths during the Kôma War. Afterwards, his talents became even more rare, for there had not been a dragon born with his ability since his birth—hell; there literally hadn't been a dragon with his exact abilities before his birth.

He was very special, and he knew it. No one else—even among the other races, even the extinct ones—could bring a person back from Death as quickly as he could, nor could they be brought back fully healed. He could completely heal a body of all physical ailments without the need to stop the bleeding, set broken bones, drain poison from a wound, or any of the other requirements needed before a healer could actually use their magic to heal the body. He could even heal minds, and that was possibly an even trickier process than completely healing a body or bringing a person back from death for the mind was the most complicated part of the body.

It was one of the reasons he was a favorite of Flarelord's Supreme Elder.

Another reason was that Devorit had been a gift that the Goddess Ragradia had given to her sect, and one just did not mess with another God's Chosen, especially when that God was allies with your own. All the Golden Dragons had known why Devorit had been created the moment the Kôma War had commenced and the Golden Dragons had finally gotten involved. Unfortunately, before Devorit could be of use to his Goddess, the Mazoku barrier had been put in place, and he could not assist the Golden Dragons of Aqualord's sect.

Devorit, on occasion, cursed the fact that he had been at Lord Vrabazard's Temple for training with Flarelord's version of healing—which was very different from Aqualord's healing—when Hellmaster had decided to start the Kôma War. He was frustrated by the fact that he had been created for one specific purpose, and he could not perform his duties to his Goddess when she needed him most. He cursed his unfulfilled destiny. It was a resentment he kept contained most of the time, but every so often it would lash out through his temper, and that was another reason the Supreme Elder of Lord Vrabazard kept him very close.

Oh, he kept busy with the temple and all the problems inherent in keeping a large sect of Golden Dragons healthy in the desolation of a desert, but Devorit felt stymied.

His reason for life was gone, and now he was just another healer among many. Sure, he was still a powerful healer and desired for that very reason, and he was _the_ Temple Healer of Flarelord, even though Vrabazard was not the God he prayed to and he would have rather been the Temple Healer of Lady Ragradia—but a number of the healers under his command were good enough that he really didn't need to still be here to be Lord Vrabazard's healer. He was tired of being locked away in this forsaken temple, unable to go to Lord Valwin, or Lady Rangort to assist them with their healers and maybe teach more of his skills to their followers, or perhaps even learn new techniques from them.

Mostly, Devorit really just wanted to go back to his Lady Goddess, and beg of her other tasks to make his life more fulfilled than it was. He wanted to be of use to Her, and only to Her.

But it was not to be.

Aside from the fact that the Supreme Elder of the Fire Dragon King was a jealous male who did not want to lose one fraction of his power or the power over what he thought were his subjects, Aqualord had been much diminished in Her fight with Shabranigdo and Chaos Dragon Gaav. Devorit knew it would be a long time before Her power would come back into being again—especially since a large number of Her Golden Dragon followers had died in the war, died because he had not been there to resurrect them—and until She called him back into Her service and the Mazoku Barrier was down, he was to remain a subject under Flarelord's Supreme Elder.

Unfortunately, his life seemed to be one big disappointment after another, though he had gotten used to it by now.

He did not like Flarelord's Supreme Elder. The man was a fool. Anyone could see that. But the old male had power, and he had been able to push his way into power, forcing the original female Supreme Elder out of power and into exile. It had not been the smartest thing the man could have down, as that crotchety old bitch could hold a grudge like no one else—but the old fool had done so anyway. And far worse than even that, the old miscreant had practically cursed his entire sect.

Devorit had been there when the High Priestesses had foretold the destruction that would happen to Vrabazard's Golden Dragons if they committed the mass genocide against the Ancient Dragons. The Supreme Elder hadn't cared. In fact, he had enslaved every single female priestess that had a variation of that vision, and then he locked the priestesses in the dungeons far below Firelord's city—all for daring to have visions that their own God had given them to save their sect!

The Supreme Elder wanted vengeance against a race that had not assisted in the Kôma War; he wanted the blood of a race that were pacifists and would not fight back.

He eventually got what he wanted.

And the Golden Dragons under Firelord's Supreme Elder became a much-diminished race. Devorit knew, once he had begun to see the changes in the bodies of his fellow Golden Dragons, that Lord Vrabazard had cursed His very followers. They had ignored His visions, so He would damn them in return.

The curse had started out simply enough.

All the males involved in the slaughter of the Ancient Dragons had suddenly begun to sprout hair on their heads! The next part of the curse actually changed their physical bodies even more. Their once beautiful golden scales had dulled to a sickly mustard yellow, and their bodies lost a lot of their weight despite the fact that they had not changed their diets. When the males eventually murdered all of the pacifist Ancient Dragons, their bodies almost looked emaciated, at least compared to how they used to look.

Unfortunately, the females also seemed to be touched with this curse, even though they had had nothing to do with the unmitigated slaughter.

_Seemed_, being the operative word.

Being a healer of the highest quality and standards, and being a healer of a Goddess not currently cursing Her followers allowed Devorit to truly see into the curse. He couldn't do anything about it—it was a curse from Lord Vrabazard Himself!—but Devorit could see how it affected all the parts of the body. Lord Vrabazard had only cursed His male followers, not His female followers. But it also seemed He knew His male followers a little too well, for He knew that if the females didn't start showing the changes in their bodies, they would be harmed.

So the females also grew hair atop their heads whilst in their dragon forms. And their scales, while never taking on that muddy yellow color of the males, still lost a lot of the golden splendor and shine that gave Golden Dragons their name. They had even begun to mature slowly, so that they reached puberty at a much later time than the males. But Lord Vrabazard did not curse their digestive tracts to stop taking in proper nutrients…

Had He done so, His female followers would have surely died of starvation long ago.

Because the Supreme Elder, in wanting to make sure no female could ever go against him or his chosen Council, made sure that the females were put on restrictive diets. Enough to survive daily life, if they put the minimum of effort into moving around, and they mostly remained in their human forms. Priestesses were allowed a larger ration because he still expected them to perform magic for him. Some brooding females were even allowed a larger amount of meat and bone to ensure their eggs actually survived in their bodies until they were laid—but this was not always the case, especially if the Supreme Elder wanted the female to become one of the casteless, and therefore one of the temple whores—which seemed to be happening more and more often since Evalee.

To this day Devorit still was not sure if that was the case in regards to Evalee.

He sighed as he thought about her.

Evalee had been one of the first females to have had most of her first and only clutch die on her. Only one egg out of the four that she had laid had hatched, and the hatchling—though as lovely as her mother and just as vivacious as Evalee had once been—had been scorned for surviving at all, all because she had no magical ability. Evalee had immediately been 'fixed' so she could no longer bear any more clutches, had been forced to become a casteless female and a whore, and was put on even stricter rations than even the lowest caste females. Her surviving daughter Evanth was forced to become the lowest caste the Golden Dragons had, and had immediately become a pariah in their society, all before she could meep piteously about her empty and hungry belly.

Devorit had been there. He had seen it all. And his heart crumbled at the sight of such neglect to the poor hatchling, to poor Evalee. But the Supreme Elder would not back down from his ruling despite how much Devorit argued for the two females.

Even though the Supreme Elder very much liked the fact that Devorit was HIS healer, and a powerful one at that, he still considered Devorit an outsider—especially since Devorit had not been cursed by Lord Vrabazard. Devorit still looked as a Golden Dragon should, he still retained his weight and his splendor. The Supreme Elder almost seemed to hold this against Devorit, and seemed to do everything in his power to make Devorit as miserable as he could, without being obvious about it.

Devorit had wanted Evalee as his mate.

Evalee may not have been the most powerful of the magic users in the temple, but she had a special ability with her magic. She could store her magic for days, weeks and even months on end if she had to, and then when she really needed to use it, she could cast spell after spell after spell without growing tired or getting burned out, outlasting even those magic users who had talismans and magic amplifiers to increase their magical capacity. Devorit had seen that as a high possibility in his future children. If he and Evalee could have children whose talents combined their parents' talents together, they would be the most powerful healers the world would have ever seen.

He had also just desired her as a female. She had been clever, spirited, and beautiful. Even in her physically diminished state, she was still a sight to behold when she flew.

But the Supreme Elder was a conniving weasel. And he had allowed another male, a priest of the temple, to mate Evalee despite Devorit's claim on her. He had wanted to exert his authority over Devorit; to show which male of the two truly had power.

Devorit once again cursed that vicious bastard. The moment Evalee had become pregnant, there was nothing Devorit could do about the claim of the other male. And when Evalee had laid the clutch, Devorit did what any healer was expected to do and he made sure the eggs were all healthy and strong—and they were. He could even detect very strong magic in three of the eggs. He didn't relate his findings about the fourth though, as that egg completely confounded him. He just proclaimed her unable to cast magic, which was true…

But he couldn't exactly pinpoint what was so different about Evanth, compared to her sisters.

He had known something was wrong the night of her hatching. All four babies were past their due date to break out of their shells, and he had the regular healers of the temple on constant watch. He was there when Evanth finally began to rock in her egg, attempting to find the weakest point to break out at. Sadly, her egg was the only egg that had done so. Evalee was busy helping her daughter hatch, while Devorit checked over the three others for signs of life. He knew that Evalee instinctually knew about the others, that she had noticed the lack of meeps from her other daughters while they were still shellbound, that Evanth was the only one exhibiting signs of life from her egg—but despite this, Devorit didn't want to add such a burden to her, or she may force the hatching of her only surviving egg and thus kill Evanth in her hurry to save her.

Once Evanth had completely broken out of her shell, and was resting comfortably against her mother, Devorit confirmed Evalee's growing suspicions about the death of her three other eggs, much to her own distress. Unfortunately, though Devorit wanted to keep the news a secret as long as possible, one of his assistant healers had already retrieved the Supreme Elder by that time. And the old bastard—upon learning of Evalee's misfortune—had declared her casteless and for Devorit to fix her as soon as she was physically able to withstand the process. Devorit could tell very much that the despicable whoreson wanted Evanth to be killed outright since she was obviously as useless as her mother, and it was all Devorit could do to protect her from the damned slimeball.

Evanth may not have been his daughter, but her death would shatter Evalee—and he loved Evalee too much to see her so broken.

Devorit had begged the Supreme Elder to allow him to mate Evalee despite the loss of her first clutch, but the Supreme Elder had denied him—wanting him to choose a stronger female among his priestesses. Devorit hadn't wanted any of them. He had only wanted Evalee.

He had done what he could to see that they were as well taken care of as possible, and watching Evanth grow from a tiny hatchling into a lovely little dragonette had been worth the pain in seeing his beloved so weakened. He had noticed that Evalee was starving herself as well, so that Evanth could eat more than a low caste female was allowed. Despite the fact that it was killing her, he didn't stop Evalee from doing this, nor did he inform anyone that he knew what was going on. Luckily, everyone of the temple just assumed that Evanth was an extraordinarily healthy young dragon, and that the death of her daughters—and her subsequent drop in social status—had put Evalee into a state of shock and denial.

The only time Devorit noticed that Evalee even exhibited any signs of life was when Evanth was nearby.

It didn't help that Evalee was now being raped everyday by all the males that had wanted her before that priest had mated her—the Supreme Elder had even stated Devorit could have the first round on Evalee since he had wanted her so much, but Devorit had refused and was likely the only male that had not done such a horrendous act to her. He couldn't bear to. He truly loved her too much for that.

So he healed Evalee of her injuries when he could, fed them most of his food when he was able to sneak it in, and did his best to watch over Evanth when he was free so that the males of the temple wouldn't get the same ideas in their heads about her as they did about her mother.

Devorit was broken from his musings when he heard some murmurings in one of the corridors ahead of him. Five males, all nattering away like hens in a henhouse.

"Apparently, she had the audacity to demand that they change her purpose from that of a breeder into a scribe!" This was a very young male's voice; Devorit would place him at maybe two hundred and fifty.

"Foolish little chit of a girl. How dare she?! She should know her place after being told it for four hundred years of her life." An older male, perhaps six or seven hundred, snarled.

This sounded quite interesting. He wondered just whom they were talking about.

"Do you think they'll actually allow her to be anything more than a brood female though? I mean, do you think she's intelligent enough?" Another young male spoke this, likely one who just recently hit majority at two hundred.

"Well, she does have a hundred more years to prove she's worth anything. Not that I think she can. I mean, just look at her mother." This male was also older, close to the six hundred mark, almost as old as the other.

"That little wench is weak and talentless. She's not worth the effort of making into a brood female. I don't care who her grandmother and great grandmother were, all she's any good for now is for fucking and even then we still have to wait for her to hit puberty, though I don't know why. She's practically fully grown anyway. She could handle all the males that are interested in her." The seven hundred year old one, and likely a priest based on his tone and his knowledge.

Devorit frowned. He had an inkling of just whom they were talking about, and if he were right, he would need to take action. Young Evanth had requested another hearing in regards to her purpose in the temple. The Supreme Elder had been quite incensed about it after all. He had railed at Devorit for weeks, though Devorit had secretly been pleased that she was brave enough to ask. Was that today? Had he lost track of the time?

"Well, apparently she must have convinced the Supreme Elder, may he reign another thousand years." This was the six hundred year old.

"Why do you say that?" A new male voice spoke up; maybe four hundred?

"Didn't you hear?" The six hundred year old again.

"Hear what?" No, he was older; his voice was just reedy and nasally. He was closer to six hundred like the other.

The six hundred year old chuckled, confident in his knowledge. "Right after his meeting with the little tramp, he sent for his Favorite."

"You've got to be joking! That upstart little bitch isn't worth all this effort, surely." The eldest male snarled.

The confident one spoke again. "I'm serious. All of the priestesses were interrupted in their meditations and Filia was practically dragged before the Council with a bewildered look on her face."

The oldest one snorted. "Filia always has a bewildered look on her face."

There was much guffawing over this.

The reedy voice spoke again. "That doesn't stop you from wanting to bend her over one of the pews to fuck her as she begs for more."

Devorit could practically hear the rude gestures being made.

The oldest harrumphed. "I can't help it if her father designed her human form to such delicious perfection. You know Bazard did it so we'd all be lining up to bang her."

The confident one spoke up again. "Yeah, those luscious tits of hers are begging to be sucked."

The nasal one agreed. "And fucked."

More guffaws; and likely more rude gestures. Devorit rolled his eyes. In his temple and his worship under Lady Ragradia, women were treated with far more respect than this. They were the natural givers of life after all, and one did not treat them as objects to be used and abused. One treated them with adoration, and hoped that they would deign to notice his existence. And Devorit still held to the old ways.

It was time to interrupt this foolish gathering of imprudent horny males who had nothing better to do with their time than gossip, especially about the females who could not escape their enslavement.

He stepped into the corridor where the males immediately snapped their mouths shut, their eyes bulging when they saw who was glowering at them. Everyone in this temple knew who Lord Devorit Ni Rathard was, what he was capable of. He was practically on equal standing with the Supreme Elder, and was the old dragon's right hand man. It didn't matter that he was _only_ a healer. Devorit was _the_ Healer. And ever since the Kôma War, the slaughter of the Ancient Dragons, and the subjugation of the females, he had not been a particularly _nice_ healer.

And he had just overheard them.

Devorit could have been a living statue, for all of the movement that he made. He didn't blink, just stared at all the males, as if memorizing every detail of their faces. The hatred he had for them was obvious even in his stoic façade.

None of the priests or guards made a move. To do so was to catch Devorit's unwavering attention, and right now the only safety they had was in numbers. They all knew he held no high regard for Filia, but they also knew he did not appreciate their debauched ways because he was the one who usually had to heal the females afterwards.

Devorit suddenly smiled. It was not that gracious a smile. A few chills went up the small gathering's spines. His deep voice resonated down the halls. "You will all be taking a vow of celibacy, until I decide otherwise. That means no fucking, no masturbating, nothing. And I will be doing your physicals every month to make sure that you stay true to this vow. And if you don't stay true to it, I assure you, I can make it physically impossible for you to ever have sex again. Don't forget. I was forced to fix the females. Males are much easier. And far more permanent. And none of you have anything to offer magically or martially that we don't already have an overabundance of in the other males of the temple, so there won't be much of a loss if you force me to enact such retribution."

To say the males were upset by this pronouncement was an understatement. But this was Lord Devorit Ni Rathard. And they knew he wasn't afraid to follow through on his threats. The healer had nothing that could be taken from him that had not already been taken away. He was a dangerously loose cannon, and only the Supreme Elder seemed to hold any sway over him, and that sway was tenuous at best.

There were rumors that Devorit was behind the death of the priest that had mated Evalee—and the venereal diseases of the males that more frequently raped Evalee. That male's death had been slow and agonizingly painful—and the venereal diseases were even worse. But no one had been able to connect the priest's death or the diseases to Devorit, so they were really only just rumors.

It was almost as if Devorit knew what they were thinking about, with that gleeful smile of his. "Now back to your posts. I will see you tomorrow morning, bright and early."

The three priests—the oldest ones in the grouping—scrambled back towards the temple proper, fear in their eyes as they passed the healer. The two guards, the younglings who were already learning the atrocious ways of their forebears, were back against the walls of the corridors, their eyes on anything but each other and Devorit.

It was at that moment that Devorit felt a healing spell go off. He pinpointed the direction it came from, sending his magic out to feel who cast it and why.

Filia Ul Copt. In the general location of the temple apartments. Well, shit.

It was a minor one, which was to be expected with her. But she hadn't cast it on herself. And it wasn't like her to practice her spells outside of the temple, especially her healing spells. She thought she was too good for that. But she had cast it on someone. Which meant he needed to check it out. If someone was hurt, he wasn't about to trust Filia to properly heal her. He sighed. A healer's work was never done.

Devorit headed towards her apartments at a quick pace, concern for Filia's patient overriding his usual decorum.

xxxx

Filia leaned back from her bureau and took a deep breath, surprised at her exhaustion. She couldn't still be tired from that vision, could she? She rested her forehead against her hand for a moment, but pulled away when she realized how hot her skin was. She shouldn't still be burning up from the heat of Lord Vrabazard's rage, but there was no real explanation for it other than the power behind the vision. Maybe she should get some water to drink, she still felt parched after all—plus she wasn't even sweating and that couldn't be a good sign. She sighed.

She'd find the clothing for Evanth, heal her the rest of the way and then get something to drink. And then maybe prepare a meal for the two of them. She was starving, and Evanth had to be as well.

As she finally found some clothing that would fit Evanth, someone came bursting into her bedroom, and though she was outraged at such audacity, she was very glad that she was at least dressed. It would have been embarrassing and highly improper if she had still been only in a towel.

Filia looked up, ready to berate her intruder, and smash him through a wall with her hidden mace if need be, when her mouth closed with a snap. The male Golden Dragon standing in her bedroom and looking down on her was the last person in the world that she'd expect to invade her privacy, for he never had before. They weren't even on speaking terms really, even if he was a favorite of the Supreme Elder.

Lord Devorit Ni Rathard was a very handsome male specimen, and very typical in what most male Golden Dragons looked like—gold eyes, long golden hair swept back in a warrior's braid, and tan golden skin. He was tall with strong square shoulders, and he was very well built with very good musculature. If one hadn't known he was a healer—and had never once actually fought a day in his long life—one would think all he did was work out and fight for a living. Even his dragon form was perfect, and Filia would admit this only to herself, desirable—for he looked nothing like the other males that she was used to seeing. She supposed that it was because he was originally from a different sect and because he was not a follower of Lord Vrabazard, but of Lady Ragradia.

He raised a perfect arched golden eyebrow at Filia, who had yet to get up off her floor, and spoke. "You were casting healing magic outside of the Temple. Why?"

Filia couldn't help but growl.

Just because he was gorgeous did not give him the right to be so demanding.

He was in her home, in Her Room, for Flarelord's sake, and he was asking her what she was _doing_ in it?! Filia stood up, dropping the clothes for Evanth on the floor as she did so. She glared at him, still growling, while putting her hands on her hips as she continued to look up at him. She wasn't going allow the fact that just because he was at least a head taller than she was intimidate her—she was Lady Filia Ul Copt after all. She dealt with her father and the Supreme Elder on a regular basis. Lord Devorit may have been the Temple Healer, but he did not have the same sort of status that they did.

And now she especially didn't like him for barging into her lair without even asking permission to enter. "What are you doing in my room? I did not give you permission to so much as step a foot inside."

Lord Devorit chuckled and the sound practically grated on her nerves. "You were practicing healing magic outside of the Temple. I am attuned to these sorts of things, and you should know you're not supposed to cast outside of the Temple without my direct authority. Now I will ask again Filia, why were you casting healing magic?"

Filia snorted as she turned her head up and away from him, her nose in the air. "It's 'Lady Filia' to you. And what I do in my apartments is my own business. If I choose to practice my healing arts, it should make no never-mind to you. Now get out before I tell my father and the Supreme Elder that you were invading my privacy." She made to push him out, but couldn't so much as budge the man.

Devorit frowned a moment. He could feel the heat radiating off of her body. That was unusual. He wondered for a moment if she was getting sick. The Supreme Elder would not like it if his favorite was coming down with something and Devorit had done nothing to assist her when he could have. "If you harmed yourself or if you are sick, and did not heal yourself properly, it is my job to make sure you are well, _Lady_ Filia." Lord Devorit made sure to emphasize the 'Lady', though he had known all along that the healing spell she cast had not been on herself. But he was playing her game for now.

"Well I'm fine. Now go away." She looked away from him, her gaze landing on her bed.

Devorit sniffed the air, when her stare was not focused on him. The extra heat coming from Filia's body was not because she was ovulating, so she apparently had not entered her cycle. But there _was_ a different scent to her, on her, a male scent… One he couldn't quite place, at least not without getting in her personal space and obviously sniffing her. He glanced to her bed and saw the occupant on it. The one Filia had likely tried to heal. "I see. Yes, you are well. But the girl on your bed is not."

Filia meeped, before she took as much command of the situation as she could, and tried to push him out once more, to no avail. "Well, she will be when I'm finished. So _go away_."

She was still radiating way too much heat for a female dragon as small as she was. And her efforts in attempting to push him away were clearly ineffectual. He knew she wasn't a completely feeble female—when she got in one of her tempers, which she was close to now, she actually had the adrenaline to pound into people, and if she had her mace on her, she was even worse. So why was she so weak? "If I am to call _you_ Lady Filia, _you_ will address _me_ by _my_ proper title, got that, _Lady_ Filia?" Lord Devorit completely ignored Filia and walked past her to the girl passed out on Filia's bed. He chuckled. "I didn't realize you were into members of your own sex, Lady Filia. I'm sure the Supreme Elder and Lord Bazard will be delighted."

Filia's blush burned brightly. "I am not! She needed my assistance and didn't want to go to a male for help."

Lord Devorit turned and looked at Filia whose face was switching between pouting and scowling. He supposed, had he been attracted to her, he might have found her cute—the priests and guards were correct in that regard, for she was definitely quite beautiful especially with her sapphire blue eyes. But he honestly just found her annoying. Especially her higher-than-thou attitude. Why this girl would come to Filia for help was beyond him. Then part of what Filia said registered. "Was she raped?"

Filia crossed her arms over her chest, and continued pouting.

Lord Devorit wanted to roll his eyes. She was _such_ a child. Getting her to answer was like pulling teeth from a crocodile—a long drawn-out process and painful to boot. "I will ask again, Lady Filia. And if you don't answer me, I will do a full pelvic exam on her and then take this before the Supreme Elder and name you as an accomplice. Was She Raped?"

Filia's eyes widened, the Vision flashing before her eyes once more. She winced in remembered pain, and the heat of her body flared up once more. "No. Not exactly," she managed to gasp out.

Devorit would have to be a fool not to have noticed that. The temperature around her had literally increased with the wave of heat that rolled off of her body. And that male scent had also increased. She was also in pain. He wasn't sure why he hadn't noticed it before, but he did notice it now. The thing was, she was keeping it to herself. He knew Filia did not have a high tolerance for pain—his fellow healers complained constantly when they had to treat her because all she did was whine. Why wasn't she whining now? She had a healer right here, in front of her—but nothing so much as a peep out of her. Why? "What do you mean, not exactly."

The stubbornness that Filia must have inherited from her mother bore itself out on her face, before Filia walked away from him and towards her bathroom. Lord Devorit, despite his healer's code, was fighting the need to strangle the young female.

When Filia came back, he supposed he was glad that he hadn't followed her to carry through with his dark thoughts.

Filia handed him the girl's robes, and he immediately caught the whiff of musk from the male who had done this to the girl.

It wasn't the same scent that was on Filia, that one was clean and pure and full of spice.

This one was… disgustingly pungent to say the least. But male Golden Dragons, when marking females, typically gave off strong scents to prove ownership. He handled the clothing and noticed how threadbare the material was. It was likely a hand-me-down from another female of the lower castes, and it was worn practically through. Then he found the stain, right in the middle of the belly of the robes.

No, the male had not raped the girl, not exactly. He brought the stain to his nose. He needed to know which male it was, exactly. He almost gagged at the stench. As an unmated male, he would find that particular smell offensive, much more than a mated male would. But he recognized the male that the funk came from.

Fenlazzo Jil Narathept.

A disgusting male if ever there was one. He had absolutely no magical talent, not even for healing and especially not for Holy Magic. All Fenlazzo was good for was fighting, fucking and breeding strong brainless male fighters.

Devorit finally looked down at the girl in Filia's bed, really looked at her. He recognized her. It was hard not to. Young Evanth was the only female of their race who had such lovely natural russet brown hair. Devorit felt his heart crumble at the sight of her. The dried tears that had run down her cheeks from the pain, the bites and bruising on her lips, the bruises on her arms and shoulder, all suggesting a very brutal violation—Evalee's baby girl did not deserve this.

His poor Evalee had become a whore to all the males who had wanted to mate with her, including Fenlazzo. And Devorit knew that most of those males felt that Evanth should take up her mother's mantle, despite the fact that she was underage by at least a hundred years. They felt that because her dragon form was practically fully developed she'd be able to handle all the males who wanted to take her despite her youth.

He knew Evanth was not ready for that sort of thing. She was much too young. She didn't understand sex, wasn't taught about the differences between males and females, and she wouldn't be taught until she was close to her majority.

While it was true, that he had never truly looked upon Evanth in that light before, he knew his jealousy was coming to the fore, with the wretched stench of Fenlazzo's nearby. He had never been able to have her mother. And he never would because Evalee was mentally too far-gone, and the Supreme Elder had never allowed it anyway. But he had perhaps always hoped that just maybe he could have Evalee's only child—the last remnant of the woman he loved.

He looked down at Evanth again.

Evanth was highly intelligent. Her intellect was much higher even than young Filia—when Filia chose to use it—and Filia had been under the wing of the Supreme Elder almost all of her life. Lord Devorit had always admired cleverness in a female. Unfortunately there were so few female Golden Dragons in Vrabazard's sect that were actually intelligent, Filia being one of the prime examples in the lack of brains.

He also knew of Evanth's attempt to make her life better—almost all the males had by now considering the gossip he had just heard—by seeing the Elders a second time, to change her purpose from that of a breeder to that of a scribe.

It was the ballsiest thing he had ever heard a lower caste female try, and she was not yet fully an adult.

The poor girl had grown up in so much adversity and such a thing was really not to be expected from her. Many of the females of her caste had at least had full clutches to live and grow with. She had been alone. The females of her caste had mothers, and sometimes fathers, who took an active interest in their daughter's lives. Evanth did not have that luxury.

Evanth was constantly shamed because only she had survived, because she didn't have magical talent, because she was expected to become a whore like her mother and it was better to keep her downtrodden now so she wouldn't try to break out later. But she still fought back against a system that had been in place for many hundreds of years.

And now this. That same male, who was raping her mother, was attempting to do the same to her. Evanth had not even reached puberty for a female Golden Dragon, and already Fenlazzo was beginning the stages for mating. And if she became impure, the Supreme Elder would be required to give her to Fenlazzo, even though he was the cause of it. It seemed he only cared about getting his dick fucked.

Lord Devorit snarled.

His rage at never having Evalee came to the fore once more. Her only surviving child _would_ take her place, and Devorit would make sure no other male would have her but him.

Evanth _was_ His.

And a despicable male was starting to encroach upon what was rightfully his.

He'd have to rectify that.

But first he would have to heal _his_ female. And get his scent on her as quickly as possible without using the contemptible methods that Fenlazzo was trying. Why Fenlazzo even wanted Evanth, aside from her innocent youth, was beyond Lord Devorit's ken, but that would not stop Devorit from bringing an end to Fenlazzo and his idiotic tendencies.

It was time to play with those venereal diseases again. They were much too weak for someone like Fenlazzo.

"What exactly have you done Lady Filia? I must know so that I can best help her."

Filia looked up at Lord Devorit, flabbergasted. "You mean… you're going to help her?"

Lord Devorit heaved a sigh. "Isn't that what I just said?"

Filia frowned. "You're not going to take her to the Supreme Elder, are you?"

Devorit looked at the young priestess, an eyebrow quirked at her response. Usually she was always telling the Supreme Elder, or her father, anything and everything. She was well-known as a veritable tattletale. Why was she suddenly so hesitant? Did it have to do with the heat radiating off her body, that unknown male's scent, and the pain she was in? "I'm surprised you haven't already."

Filia blushed and bowed her head. So she knew of her reputation. "She's my friend. And she asked me not to. You're not supposed to betray the trust of your friend."

Lord Devorit chuckled. "Interesting." So all it took was a friend to suddenly make Filia tight-lipped. Or, perhaps, there was more to it. Like all those niggling little facts that he hadn't yet figured out. "No, I suppose you are not. On my honor, Lady Filia, I will not bring her case before the Supreme Elder or the Elders."

Filia suddenly brightened. "Oh thank you Lord Devorit!"

"I will ask though, for my services, that you not tell her that I assisted you in this."

Filia tilted her head, confusion written upon her face. "But why?"

"Well, it's as you said. She didn't want to go to a male for help. And I am a male. Besides, don't you think it'll be better if she thinks you're the one who made her completely better?" And he didn't want Evanth to know he was directly involved with her yet. He had to plan this carefully and she'd be embarrassed if she knew he'd learned of her violation. No female liked that, or wanted her future mate to know about her impurity, not that he saw it as such since she was the not the one at fault. Plus, Devorit didn't want Fenlazzo to find out that he had any connection to Evanth, not yet—he needed to study Fenlazzo a little more first.

Filia looked down, nodded and then finally looked back up. "You're right."

"So, I'll ask once more. What exactly have you done?" He was tired of repeating himself, but with a brainless twit like Filia, one must do so often.

"I cast a small healing spell on her left arm to lesson the pain on her torn muscle so I could then rotate her arm bone back into place in her shoulder. She passed out from the pain from that."

"Did you use a cooling spell on any of the injured areas?"

"No… I did make sure she had a hot bath though. She really smelled a lot like that male, and we both didn't like that."

He'd agree, he did not like Fenlazzo's scent on Evanth either. "The bath was a nice gesture, but could have made the injuries worse without the cold spells in place."

"Oh."

"I will admit though, that it was smart of you to set her shoulder first before you attempted to heal it. From what I have heard, your healing skills are not the greatest, and you could have repaired most of the damage and kept the shoulder dislocated which would have made it bad for her in the end."

She obviously heard his intended insult, and sulked. "Are you saying you could have healed her perfectly without doing all that I did?"

Lord Devorit smirked. "I am the Temple Healer here _for a reason_."

Filia glared at his smug expression. "Well I did what I could. So why don't you show me just how good you are then?"

Devorit really wanted to grind his head into his palm. Filia had no idea at the innuendo she had just said. She was lucky she was with him, and that he had no intentions toward her. It was no wonder all the priests wanted to fuck her, especially if that was how she spoke normally. He chuckled. "With pleasure. I'll show you how an expert handles this situation." Lord Devorit undid the towel wrapped around Evanth, exposing her body to his gaze.

Filia snarled and attempted to wrap the towel back around Evanth's body. "You're supposed to be good enough that you can heal her with her clothes still on. There's no need for you to undress her to such an extent!"

Lord Devorit slapped Filia's hands away. Her skin was really hot, burning almost. He'd have to check her out after he dealt with Evanth. "Really Filia? Just because I can sense what is wrong with her body, does not mean I can see it. I must make sure all her contusions are completely healed and no longer showing on her skin. I can't see through a towel to make sure. And I'd rather not stop my healing spells just to keep checking."

"It's just, she wouldn't want you to see her naked. No girl likes that."

"I'm a healer. It's in the job description. I've seen you." He didn't add that it was mostly when she was just a young dragonette. He'd left her adult physicals to the female healers. He didn't want an eyeful of Filia Ul Copt, and he didn't want her father thinking he'd had an eyeful.

Dear Lady, the bastard might have made him mate the chit!

Filia's face turned redder than a tomato before she slapped him across the face. She stomped out of the room, all sense of propriety for her new friend forgotten in her embarrassment.

The mage lights went out as well.

Lord Devorit rolled his eyes as he watched the hot-tempered priestess storm out of the room.

Seriously? What idiot wanted to be mated to that?! Poor sap that eventually got chosen would find out soon enough that he was getting a spoiled naïve little princess.

Devorit was just glad that he wasn't on the list. His Holy Magic spells left much to be desired so he was completely out of the running for Lady Filia's mating, according to the Supreme Elder and Bazard.

Thank Ceified.

He sighed as he cast a few mage lights over Evanth's body so that he could better see the bruising.

Lord Devorit turned back to Evanth. Despite the arguing between Filia and himself, she had not yet awoken. The pain must have been great indeed. She was pale, underneath the much-abused skin that must have been from Filia scrubbing the hell out of her. Her stomach was fairly bruised, right around the belly button. He found it comical that the Golden Dragons found the need to form their human bodies so exactly that they had belly buttons since it was a purely aesthetic addition, but still have differences like pointed ears and longer canines.

Both of Evanth's arms were bruised as well, right at her biceps in the form of fingerprints, though in her left arm the muscles had definitely been torn. He could see how that had happened, especially with a dislocated shoulder. Her left shoulder was swollen and bruised as well, which was to be expected without the ice spells placed on the area of all her injuries. He looked closely at her face. Her cheeks had nail scratches, and her right cheek was slightly puffy. The little sleazebag had slapped her too. And her lips were not only bruised and swollen, but they were also bitten. Devorit leaned in closer and sniffed.

Blood and…

Venom.

Fenlazzo had injected his venom into her lips and mouth. It wasn't as effective as injecting it into her jugular, and he didn't inject very much of it. But enough was there that it probably made her just a little more responsive to his actions, a little more pliant as he manhandled her.

The venom was still fairly fresh. And it would likely still be affecting her. She was very young after all.

A hundred years too young for this sort of shit.

Devorit was already planning a special sort of hell for Fenlazzo, and any others of his ilk who thought they could get away with doing this to the young females of their race. Devorit knew the young girls didn't have much to look forward to, but this was a bit much.

Fenlazzo would probably even say she came onto him, that she was teasing him. Young Evanth didn't even know the name of the game for that kind of thing. The young females were not taught about sex until it actually happened, or sometimes, right before it happened. They were kept ignorant on purpose. They were kept in prepubescent bodies until they reached majority—which was typically around five hundred years—so that the males would not look upon them with lust, and would not act upon that lust. It was a safety measure for the young prepubescent females who knew nothing about males and their urges.

But it wouldn't work if males like Fenlazzo thought they could just bend the rules whenever they found a young female to their liking.

Yes. Fenlazzo would burn. First his gonads. Then the rest of him.

Devorit smiled into a vicious snarl. He would make certain that Fenlazzo would suffer greatly for attempting to rape a young female.

Especially since Fenlazzo had thought to rape _Devorit's_ chosen female.

It meant Devorit had to act quickly in taking Evanth as his mate, but if it meant protecting Evanth from a male like Fenlazzo, then he would do it.

Devorit raised forth his arms and called upon his healing magic. He had built up a great store of magic by not using much this day, and his capacity for casting healing spells was incredible. Evanth wouldn't need much, but he wanted to make sure she was fully healed so she could be the scribe that she wanted to be.

He would allow her that chance before he truly stepped in to become her mate.

AN: Thanks to my Beta Autumn Ivy for the multitude of suggestions in making this chapter so much more than it was. And yes, I will still be writing on The Chaos Within.


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